Nyx Eros
by BlackandWhite Masque
Summary: The night holds as much promise as the day. Though the two are completely different, for two people, it’s just perfect to hide their secret lives and loves… Being naïve to the reality of love or just ignorant of past experience, will two separate hearts c
1. The Carnival Of Dreams

Chapter 1: The Carnival of Dreams

Masque

* * *

Summary: The night holds as much promise as the day. Though the two are completely different, for two people, it's just perfect to hide their secret lives and loves… Being naïve to the reality of love or just ignorant of past experience, will two separate hearts claim to beat as one.

Disclaimer: If we lived in a perfect world, love would not remain unrequited, hard shiny plastics would totally burn like the easily corrosive material that they are, there would be no high-pitched banshees and _Naruto_ would be mine… _IF_ we lived in a perfect world… sigh… Nothing inside this story is mine except for the actual story itself. Please review later, remember, this is half for me and half for you.

A/N: This is my first fic so excuse the naïve-ness…I'm new to this so screw you, well not you, screw the hobo living outside you're house…nah, I'm kidding, don't do that, that's sick…Ah, I wanted to post this fic last March 28 but I couldn't post it just yet so, sigh, that's life…Hope you like it, if you do…uhh, review please. I'm rating this M because of language and adult theme, I think.

Song Playing: It Ends Tonight by All-American Rejects

* * *

The highschool basketball team of Konoha Gakuen (cliché) was currently participating in a tune-up game against its rival school, Sato no Gakuen.

It was the last minute of the game and the scores were leaning favorably on Konoha Gakuen's side by six points. Everyone knew that the last few minutes, or seconds, of a game is really the most exigent part of a game. So you could just imagine it, the crowd hushed but were probably wordlessly cheering on their school's team, the tension so thick you could cut it with a knife.

There wasn't really any wonder on who would win. Evidently Konoha Gakuen would win since they had won the previous nationals. Why wouldn't they when they have two of the most kick-ass players anyone's ever seen, Uchiha Sasuke and Uzumaki Naruto! They were so good they've already been given offers from the National team!

Of course, both were totally diverse in terms of skills and profile. Sasuke was the team captain although he was only a sophomore; and the team's attacker and a great point guard. He was definitely their ace player.

He was very capable since he was proficient in practically all sports and therefore athletic… Sasuke was also the reigning prince of Konoha High, though he hated that title. There were no misgivings of that, since any girl who would look at him would just liquefy. Shudder.

Sasuke was also very smart; he was a calculating stubborn-ass. This resulted in him having tons of fangirls whom he didn't give a hoot about. He loathed them because they were airheads and clingy. He hated it when his personal space was violated.

Uchiha Sasuke was the current heir of Uchiha Financial since his brother had disappeared three years ago. It had been a hard blow on him since he really loved his brother. It had left him with a cold heart and ice running through his veins…

He did let someone pass through his barricades, and that was his bestfriend Uzumaki Naruto.

He was the assistant captain and a defender. They had a theory that even if you used a truck in play, you still wouldn't be able to get past him. He also had his own share in getting scores. He was in the same year and class as Sasuke…

Almost anyone who knew them wondered why they were even friends. They were as different as the sun and the moon. Naruto was practically opposite all that Sasuke was.

He had a very sunny disposition and had a ten megawatt smile whereas Sasuke was always brooding somewhere and had an invariable scowl plastered to his faultless face. He was always full of boundless energy which came to good use during game play whilst Sasuke took things easy but by no means slow, far from it.

Another thing about them was that Naruto can never keep quiet and just couldn't help not talking that sometimes even Sasuke had been annoyed. He proceeded on threatening him that if he didn't shut up he would wring his neck and hang him on the flagpole near the main gate. That had shut him up for about two minutes. Sasuke never seemed to say much that one could say he was a man of few words… Try no words.

Even in looks they were opposites, Naruto had golden blonde hair that seemed brighter than the sun, sparkling azure eyes, and a tan. Sasuke,… Well you know how Sasuke looks. He was comparable to Frosty the Snowman and if ever found true, no one would be shocked.

Those who were given the privilege of actually getting close to them knew that they were actually childhood friends. They met each other when Sasuke escaped one of his private tutor classes unique only to the Uchiha's. He had wondered upon a derelict playground. The only kid there was a child; with blonde hair, sitting on the top of one of the slides playing by himself. From then on they've become inseparable…

"Naruto! Stay alert." Sasuke called out to him. There were only ten seconds left on the clock but Sasuke counted no captives until the war was over. He was guarding the guy who had the basketball making sure he doesn't get through; while Naruto was under the basket, doing just the same.

10… 9… 8… 7…

The chance of the other school winning was slim to none.

4… 3… 2… 1…

And the game was over. Konoha Gakuen had won thanks to their two best players. The crowd cheered as the players went to the locker rooms to have their own celebration.

* * *

Konoha Gakuen was a very large campus. It was really a school for the privileged and so it was natural that its huge funds were used for the beautifying of the surroundings.

The school also had a lot of buildings for special functions like mini-malls and spacious dorms for those who chose to live within the school walls. They also had a huge park just next to the gymnasium. It was here, under the cool blue sky and ashen clouds, that a girl with beautiful pink hair could be seen in deep thought.

She was sitting underneath a lofty willow tree which provided ample shade from the blinding afternoon sun. She was not the only one in the park; some other students were also chatting, having a picnic-date, doing their homework on the green lawn grass, or just plain lying around.

Her seemingly unnatural pink hair was caressed by the blowing wind, her bottle green eyes looked like they were bemused as she focused them at nothing at all though she looked like she was looking at the freshly mowed grass beneath her. She seemed a little bit dejected.

Suddenly she let out an embarrassed scream. She put her hands in front of her face as if meaning to cover it. Her face was absolutely red but it was not because of the fuss she just did. No, it was because of what she had done before the game was to start, or rather what she tried to do.

She had wanted to go to the team's locker room to wish them luck for the up coming game. Deep in her mind though, she knew it was just Sasuke whom she wanted to say good luck to, and maybe Naruto, her bestfriend and adopted brother. But no, she just had to chicken out at the last moment. Now she was stuck with a mind and heart troubled with the 'what-if's and 'could've-been's. Now she knew that she; Haruno, forehead girl, Sakura, was a coward when it came to terms of love and feelings.

One good piece of information to know though is that Sakura and Sasuke were actually friends, somewhat, through the help of Naruto; their mutual friend. But even though they were friends, sorta, she was still a little shy around him.

She probably thought it was because of her wide forehead that he didn't like her.

She needn't worry about being thought ugly though, since she wasn't. She looked weird because of the combination of the color of her hair and her eyes, yes. But they were good enough that she could pull it off. Sakura was actually quite interesting to look at really.

She was smart, probably because of her 'large' forehead, which was really just slightly above average. Sakura had a very fair complexion, and a slim petite body, one of the results of other activities… A hobby of hers was helping out in the local clinic, for free too!

'_I just want to die now… Oh earth, swallow me whole!'_

Sakura stood up from where she was sitting and looked up to the sky. Her bottle green eyes narrowed as she looked at them. She was bothered by something. She had this gut feeling that there was something bad that was going to happen soon.

'_That's weird. The weather forecast today said it would be sunny.'_

The sky looked normal and the skies were blue, except… The clouds were gray and were moving fast. The creepiest thing was, the sky looked flaxen, but the surrounding around her was dark. She could just swear the shadows were darker than they normally were.

A slight scowl formed from her soft pink lips. Normally she was going to ponder about this but she was going to have to tuck this in the recess of her huge brain. She had plans for after the game with Naruto and the Sasuke.

As she made her way to the gym, she suddenly remembered something and shouted, "Oh shoot, I didn't bring an umbrella!"

* * *

"When is she going to get here?" Sasuke said as he leaned on the wall of the school halls. His face remained impassive but it was obvious that he was getting impatient. You could just hear it from the tone of voice.

"Just chill, Sasuke. I'm sure she's near already." He had a silly grin on his face. He was trying to act calm but in truth he was actually getting nervous. He looked away from Sasuke and faced the open area leading to the park. His grin vanished and was replaced by a worried look. Sakura has never been late.

_Pant_

_Pant_

A few minutes later, they both saw a head of roseate tresses running towards them. It was Sakura and she looked like she's been running for a while. "Where have you been, Sakura-chan?" Naruto asked her as he ran up to her and gave her a bear hug. Good thing Sakura didn't mind.

"I forgot the time, Naruto." Then as Naruto had released her, she looked to Sasuke and said, "I'm sorry if I made you wait. We can go now."

Sasuke looked the least bit interested and proceeded to walk to the parking lot. "Hn."

She smiled at his usual answer for anything. Well at least he had dignified it with a response. "Come on, my Sakura-chan." Naruto said leading Sakura to the parking lot as well. Sakura's eyes grew dark.

He probably should have seen it coming given the many times this had occurred. Unfortunately he isn't very keen on remembering details and forgot that more than anything Sakura hated being called someone's property. So he had not seen it when Sakura whacked him upside the head which gave Naruto a huge bump.

When they had gotten to the parking lot, Sakura was smiling quite oddly

And Naruto was nursing the bump on his head. "Owie, Sakura-chan." He had said giving her an irresistibly cute puppy dog pout. Sakura being close to Naruto, was immune of it all, for a short while anyway.

Sasuke wondered about why Naruto had a bump on his head and asked Sakura about it. Sakura had answered him, a smile still on her lips, "Oh, he just fell down the stairs before we got here, the idiot." Sasuke looked at the two of them weirdly not believing them at all. "Hn."

"So where are we going today?" Sakura asked quite cheerfully at the two as they got in Sasuke's black Ferrari. The day before the game, Naruto had already planned for them to go somewhere to celebrate them winning the game against Sato no Gakuen. He was that confident that they would win… Anyway, both Sasuke and Sakura had agreed, especially since Naruto wouldn't shut up if they didn't.

"I don't know. Ask the dobe over there." Sasuke said, while he was concentrating on backing the car out of the school gate. Sasuke already had a student's license at his age because being an Uchiha got him a lot of privileges and pulled strings.

"I am not a dobe, bastard." Naruto had retorted, his nose fuming. "Well I'm not a bastard either you dobe." Sasuke said calmly though he was a little annoyed. Sakura sighed, '_Here we go again._ _And I thought I'd get a rest from this._' They would have continued with their verbal fight if Sakura hadn't stopped them.

"Stop it already, if you continue fighting we might crash into something, so shut up!" Sakura shouted at both of them. Sasuke focused his eyes on the road ahead, while Naruto turned his attention to the surrounding they passed. Both looked annoyed… sigh

Sakura took a deep breath. "You know the new amusement part that opened up near the Ginza District? What was its name again…" she trailed off. "Oh, I know that one!" shouted Naruto, regaining his enthusiasm, "It's the 'Kino Amusement Park!' I heard they had this roller coaster that had ten huge loops!"

He turned towards Sasuke, forgetting their earlier squabble. "Oi, Sasuke-teme, let's go there. It'll be fun."

"Hn, no. their for kids." Sasuke said while he swerved the car to the left because of a sharp turn.

"But Sasuke-teme, we really want to go there!" Naruto was now using his number one trick, whining.

Seeing as Sakura also wanted to go there, she also tried to persuade Sasuke. "Yeah, Sasuke-kun. I heard there was this huge Ferris Wheel where you can see the sunset at dusk. It is so romantic."

They both looked at Sasuke, their eyes huge and glittering (A/N: you know those weird anime eyes that get big and cute and stuff).

It was Sasuke's turn to sigh. "Alright, alright." He conceded.

The two at the back cheered loudly and chanted "Were going to the amusement park" in a sing-song voice. Sasuke looked at them and thought as he hid a smile,

'_Sometimes I feel like I'm a parent with these two acting like children, damn._'

* * *

The moment they got to the amusement park, Naruto dragged Sasuke and Sakura to _all_ the rides he could find that looked thrilling and dangerous. They had gone twice on the roller coaster and once on the Vertical Drop. For some inane reason, Naruto had also dragged them to the Carousel. They also tried their hands at Bump Cars and the Rio Grande.

After about eight rides, Sakura was already dizzy and they reluctantly agreed to take a break and go eat.

Now it was Sakura's time to drag them to her own choice of restaurant in the amusement park. She chose a little chic bistro that served tea, sweets and patisserie, and American food. Sakura chose it because it was near sunset and when the orange light of the sun had hit its peach colored stucco walls and green and blue stained glass windows; it simply looked ethereal.

"Sugoi, this place is perfect!" She exclaimed. Her face lit up and she looked positively stunning as she faced them. "Come on, let's go on inside."

Sasuke looked a little bit shocked at how Sakura had just looked. It was the first time he noticed that Sakura was actually pretty.

Naruto had his cheeks tinted with red…

They followed her inside and got seated near the window where the view that can be seen was the Ferris wheel, the bay, and the orange and pink sky signaling the coming of night. They had an… amusing chat about school and about other related stuff.

"Man, Ebisu has been driving us too much lately! He actually gave us a four page, back-to-back essay!" exclaimed Naruto. His eyes were wide to show his disbelief at the outrage.

With a smirk on place, Sasuke said, "You dobe, those are just normal assignments. You're just lazy and a dobe that's all. I've already finished that assignment yesterday."

The blonde looked at the maiden affront him with questioning eyes. "What about you Sakura-chan?"

"Already finished Naruto."

The blonde stooped his head down dejectedly. He then looked at Sasuke as if irritated. "Yeah, well we're not all geniuses like you, are we now? We just didn't get born as Uchiha Sasuke were we?" Naruto said, pouting.

"Oh please, Naruto. You know it's more than just being born smart. Besides, Sasuke works hard, that's why he gets good grades." Quipped Sakura. She just didn't like it when hard work was degraded to just being a genius.

"Well you're smart too, Sakura-chan. You just don't know how it feels being like the rest of us poor souls." Naruto had retorted jokingly. In truth, he admired the two of them for being so diligent. He was proud that his friends were constant honor students.

"Oi, oi. Stop it… So what did Ebisu say the essay was about?" Sasuke said, picking at his Blueberry pie. He was never really one for sweets anyway.

"I think it was about something called Renaissance or something…" then looking at Sakura whilst scratching his head, "Is that pasta?" Sakura and Sasuke looked at him weirdly.

Sasuke had the sudden urge to whack the blonde boy's head. "No you, dobe. That's a period of time… Hn, moron." Sasuke had told him through gritted teeth.

Sakura had the same urge but knew better on hiding it. "Seriously, Naruto, all you think about is food!" Sakura had scolded him. She felt like a migraine was coming on.

* * *

Last on their agenda was the Ferris wheel. Sakura practically beg them to go there, well Sasuke anyway. She succeeded with her goal and soon enough they were seated in one of the cable seats. It was made for two people and was the color of bullion with intricate designs and paintings; it looked like one of Fabergé's creations.

Naruto and Sasuke were seated together at one side while Sakura was on the other. She was sitting up and looked outside the window to face the sunset.

The sky had gone a deep red orange with hints and tints of violet and black-blue. When they got to the top of the wheel, they just had to hold their breath because of the magnificent view beholding them. Tokyo's tall skyscraper and their lights were being reflected by the now dark bay. The descending sun was a dark orange behind violet skies and dark clouds, the stars were already out and glittering.

They were just awe-struck.

* * *

When it was time for them to go back home, it was already dark and the streetlights had been lit up for the on coming cars on the road. "That was fun ne, Sakura-chan?" Naruto had asked Sakura as they got to the highway.

"Yeah. I think we all had fun. I wish we could do this again." Sakura said whimsically.

She loved the Ferris wheel ride most of all. It was simply romantic, with the view and Sasuke near her, even if Naruto was there as well. Not that he had anything against Naruto; it's just that it might have been better if it was just Sasuke and her.

Sasuke had enjoyed himself as well, though he would never outright admit it. He thought that he'd be extremely bored since it was a kid's theme park and he had two of the most childish persons he knew with him. But that was not to be. This was the first time he had enjoyed himself in months, with training for taking over the family business and the what-not.

Naruto, well, he was happy anytime and anywhere as long as he was with his friends. He had been all alone when he was a kid since he was an orphan, until he had met Sasuke. Suddenly he wasn't alone anymore. He also met Iruka, who had adopted him and sent him to school where he met other people his age. Then he met Sakura, another important person in his life, a bestfriend like Sasuke. Except, everyday he spent with her, she seemed to be something more than just that.

He looked at her beside him. She was already asleep, her head leaning beside the window. She was probably tired already, after all they've done all day, he wasn't surprised. He reached out her hand to her face just to tuck in a few loose strands of hair behind her ear. He had a small smile on his face and tried to take a nap as well.

Sasuke drove Sakura to her dorm inside the school first since hers was nearer. After she got down from the car, she said thank you to Naruto and Sasuke for the trip to the amusement park. "Thanks you two, I loved it today. I hope we can do it another time."

"No problem Sakura-chan, anytime at all. Right, Sasuke?" Naruto said, smiling at her. Sasuke had replied by nodding and saying a simple, "Yeah, sure." Then he quickly added, "You'd better get inside. You'll catch a cold." Sasuke looked at her with the smallest, tiniest hint of concern.

Sakura blushed at the rare attention she was receiving from the young Uchiha. "Uh, yep… You two get home safely. Good night." They both replied good night and went on their way. Sakura was still outside waving at them.

She got inside the house and walked inside the dark corridors just in time to hear the phone ring. Suddenly, she wasn't feeling good and she felt nervous answering the call. She did not bother on opening the lights and just felt for her way through the walls. The very moment she answered the phone, it had started to rain; it was as if the sky was crying for her fate. She picked up the phone and never new that this was the start of the rest of her life.

* * *

A/N: Er, so was it good? Did it suck? Was it so-so?... Please review, I NEED to know your opinions about the story and my writing style… I just got home from our class trip, swimming in the summer… Thank goodness cause the sun was already frying my brain. I made a stop-over to a café to pick-up a friend, then life started kicking in again. Without me realizing that I left my wallet, I went my fucking merry way. One of my friends was still there so I asked him to get it for me but the fucking ass-tard guard wouldn't give it… Security sucks at that _certain_ café… I'm such a good person that I'm not gonna mention the fucking place's name; they should be grateful, darn… So, please review, thank you…


	2. Mission Briefings and Troublesome Sleeps

Chapter 2: Mission Briefings and Troublesome Sleeps

Masque

Summary: When they said that really important things can happen in the blink of an eye, boy they weren't kidding alright!

Disclaimer: If we lived in a perfect world, love would not remain unrequited, hard shiny plastics would totally burn like the easily corrosive material that they are, there would be no high-pitched banshees and _Naruto_ would be mine… _IF_ we lived in a perfect world… sigh… Nothing inside this story is mine except for the actual story itself. Please review later, remember, this is half for me and half for you.

A/N: Not too many reviewed last chappie, bad… But then again, I'm still starting out; it's understandable that I don't get that too many reviews…yet. Hehe...This one is dedicated to Kasumi loves Sasuke (love the name) for the awesome review last chapter… I do hope you like it better and please review… Hopefully, this turns out better… XD

Song Playing: Drained by Kitchie Nadal

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_She got inside the house and walked inside the dark corridors just in time to hear the phone ring. Suddenly, she wasn't feeling good and she felt nervous answering the call. She did not bother on opening the lights and just felt for her way through the walls. The very moment she answered the phone, it had started to rain; it was as if the sky was crying for her fate. She picked up the phone and never new that this was the start of the rest of her life._

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A solitary person was making her way through the now bare streets of Tokyo. She was holding a yellow plastic, transparent umbrella with her right hand. The rain had not let up since she had gotten home. No problems there though, she liked it when it rains every once in a while. The vindictive world felt like it was gentle and vulnerable…

She kicked an empty can that rolled at least a few meters. It was dim, though there were a few lights on the streets. But even so, it was enough to see the few homeless people who had decided to take refuge from the rain under the roofs of public establishments. Some were already asleep, shivering from the cold rain. Others were still awake, wary of approaching people.

Sakura had turned right to the next alley that came up her way. This time, not even a few beams of light escaped to where she was going. All the more better for a center of operations that made secrecy and silence the base of its existence.

Sakura walked up a huge metal door and knocked twice. It opened but no one was behind the door. She stepped into the threshold and continued her way down the dark path. A few second later she had reached a platform leading to an elevator. This elevator looked like the old style and was made of steel, cables, and wood. The main part of the elevator was barred by a steel door that opened when Sakura got near. She pressed a button indicating up. As the elevator nearly disappeared as it went up, a new elevator replaced it so it looked like it had never left at all.

Sakura thought about earlier back at the dorm, when she had received a call from Shikamaru, a colleague at the organization.

'_Oi, Sakura, you there?' A lazy drawl was heard from the other side of the phone. That voice could only have had belonged to one person, Shikamaru._

'_Yeah, I'm here. What is it? Has something come up?' Sakura said, her voice suddenly went strong and firm. Was this why she had a bad feeling? Had something wrong happened with the—_

'_Good, I didn't know when you were going to get home and I couldn't get your cellphone number. Lucky, huh?' a long pause, 'Sandaime-sama called for you. I think he has a mission for you. You better get here early tomorrow'_

'_Iie, I'll go now. Get the port I normally use ready.' She had said. Sensing that Shikamaru was going to protest, she had immediately reasoned that she had nothing to do anyway. The last thing she wanted now was anyone worrying about her. God knows he already had too much to handle already._

So here she was now. Riding a mysterious elevator in the middle of the night surrounded by flickering lights that she reminded herself to get fixed later on. This is hardly how a normal teenager spends her Friday nights. But then again, nothing seems normal at first glance anyway. Outside of these secret stockades, she was just like any other normal, female fifteen year old that worries about boys and exams…

But inside, not only of these walls… Inside of her heart and mind, she knew that she was burden-vowed to become Haruno Sakura; member of the secret affiliation, Anbu Black Ops.

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The Sandaime-sama's office was well organized with all the paper works stacked in a neat pile and the scrolls, another. There was but one cherry wood desk and at least three bookcases full of books that have been recently dusted and wiped. The room's only source of light was a small chandelier, only because the window's heavy curtains were drawn.

In a chair behind the desk sat a man worn of time, thinking about the future. He puffed out a small amount of smoke from his pipe. He knew time would finally catch up with him and he had to plan for the ones he would leave behind. He had to be strong for them.

Seconds later, a knock was heard from the door and a female voice called, "Sandaime-san, its Sakura. May I come in?" Then in a gentle and loving voice, he answered back, "Hai, Sakura-san. Please come, come."

Shafts of bright light came from the door as it opened and revealed a female figure with blossom pink hair and green eyes. Sakura was wearing a fitted red blouse with one sleeve, colored white, reaching down to her wrists and adorned with pink embroidery of cherry blossoms and real gold accents along with gold poured ornaments, while the other sleeve was normal in length and had a swirling pattern on it. She also had on tight but flexible jeans that had the left leg designed with a silver dragon, with hints of pink, it could barely be seen.

Sakura opened the other lights in the room to make it seem brighter. "You shouldn't dwell in the dark Sandaime-san; it is bad for the health."

For an old man like himself, it really is a great joy to see young people like Sakura. Especially her in fact, because she was the one who always volunteered to tidy up his office whenever he himself had work to do. He must admit, he'd be swimming in paper work right now if not for her. He did wish that Sakura would smile more often; she would look prettier that way.

"Ah, Sakura. You shouldn't have come right away. What I have to say can wait until tomorrow, my child." He had told her, worried about _her_ health.

Sakura shook her head. "Iie, it's no bother. I have no school tomorrow anyway." Her eyes looked apprehensive and were a break from the normal calm demeanor she displayed during work. The Sandaime being sharp and attentive did not fail to notice.

"I can tell something is bothering you Sakura-chan. Please take a seat and tell an old man your problems." She remained despondent. "Oh come, I won't bite. I might be able to help you, you know… What with that old saying that old people are wise." He said to her, coaxing her with a fatherly smile so that she would sit down on the chair in front of his desk.

She did as he wanted and sat at the beige leather chair, though still nervous. Then she decided to talk. "It's nothing Sandaime-sama." Her eyes looked down. The man smiled and said' "Drop the formality Sakura. Sarutobi would do..." A slight pause as he breathed heavily. "Sakura-chan, haven't I been like a father t o you and all the other children here your age?"

Sakura immediately looked up. Her ears were slightly red and she looked a bit embarrassed. Indeed, he had been like a father to her ever since her family 'disappeared' and to the other children, whom she grew up and worked here with like as well, Shikamaru for example. They were all homeless, except for her who was directly given to Sarutobi to care for. Nevertheless, Sarutobi took care of them, gave them a roof above their heads and more. They all ended up working for him in the Anbu Black Ops. They were all given a choice not to do so if they didn't want to. They all did so anyway, because of their extreme gratitude to the Sandaime, including her.

She finally smiled at him, a real one this time. Her face looked sweet and gentle. "Hai, Sarutobi-san, you have… All of us… You have done so much for us when the people who were supposed to take care of us didn't."

"Then you know I do care Sakura-chan. So tell me what is bothering your mind, dear." She gave up. Sigh, what she wouldn't do for the man who became a foster father to her… _'Or probably a grandpa.' _She smirked.

"Ano sa, well… This sounds silly but I've been feeling really antsy since this afternoon. When Shikamaru called this evening, I thought for sure something had happened here… That's why I came here fast."

Sandaime-sama laughed loud… Then started coughing hard which got Sakura to panic. "AHHHH! Sarutobi-san, are you okay?" Sakura went behind him and tapped his back. When he had finally came down, he said to her, "Sakura-san, it's just like you to worry too much. I doubt anyone could get in here with all the security and the men outside guarding the place. Even someone invisible would find it hard to just sneak in here."

Her cheeks were flaming red. She knew it was really silly and he had laughed at her. A few seconds later, she was chuckling as well. "Yeah, silly of me isn't it?" She went back to her chair and returned to her calm composure. "So what was it that you needed to talk to me about, Sarutobi-sama?"

"Ah yes, back to business for big Sakura-chan, eh?" He had another laugh then proceeded on telling her about her new mission. Apparently, she was supposed to test three knew recruits for the Anbu Black Ops. They were at her age bracket. Her bottle green eyes widened. At the mention of this, that familiar heavy feeling in her chest resurfaced and she suddenly felt like she knew what her gut instinct was trying to tell her.

'_Oh no… Please don't let it be them.'_

"I was told that they were students at your school…" Her eyes had returned to normal, but the fear was there.

'_Why would I be scared if it was them?' _She had asked herself. It was because nothing would ever be the same again.

"They are acquaintances of yours…" Her heart pounded hard. Sandaime-sama handed three files containing the recruits' datum. She read the names of the three persons in the files.

She could just swear her heart stopped beating in that short period of time.

_Uchiha Sasuke_

_Uzumaki Naruto_

_Yamanaka Ino_

Sarutobi-san was explaining a few more details to her but it fell unto deaf ears. She was right; nothing would give her back the previous state of her life.

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It was virtually daybreak when Sakura had gotten home. The sun was almost ready to immerse the world with light and life. She opened the door to her dorm and went instantly to her bedroom. Sakura jumped up on her bed and landed face first. She kicked of her shoes and covered her head with her pink pillow.

Sakura screamed with all she had but the silken soft sheets muffled her cry. She gripped the bed sheet tightly… She had to get some sleep, she's been up for at least… she woke up at seven and it was now four in the morning,… sixteen hours!!

Sakura felt so heavy and tired, but her mind refused to rest. She thought about her new mission.

'_Naruto and… Sasuke.'_

Why did it feel like it was wrong for them to join the Black Ops? Maybe it was just because she was close friends with them and wouldn't be accustomed to them if they changed. She knew what the work in the affiliation did to people, it broke them. She wished it would never happen to them, that they would never lose their smiles like she was struggling to do. Sakura didn't know what she'd do if she never saw their smiles again, especially Naruto's ten megawatt smile. She would probably lose it in this melancholy world.

Sakura closed her eyes and breathed a deep sigh.

'_Ino-pig'_

Now that was a name that hadn't crossed her mind in a long time. It had been a while since they had last talked to each other. They were the best of friends before.

She and Ino had a silent falling out though, ever since she had gotten close to Naruto and Sasuke. That had relentlessly puzzled her mind, why would she do that when that was her best chance to get near Sasuke, her long-time crush.

She rolled over her bed and faced the lavender ceiling. She stared at it hard as she was deep in thought. Now she knew why Ino broke off their friendship.

Sakura remembered the last time she had seen Ino. It was two days ago in the parking lot right after school. Biology class had just finished and Sakura was making her way out of the school halls, when she saw Ino talking with someone outside; her striking blue eyes sparkled with mirth, she seemed really happy. She should be; she was exhibiting that flirtatious smile of hers!

Sakura couldn't really see the person Ino was talking to at first because she was hiding behind the door leading to the parking lot. She knew it wasn't right, sneaking around, but she just couldn't help it. She smirked… It was just like second nature to her after all.

She peeked from behind the door and— surprise, surprise! It was Sasuke! She gasped, though not audible, and her eyes went wide with shock.

As she looked more closely, she saw the impossible and unachievable. It was perhaps more deplorable than Ino and Sasuke talking to each other. Sasuke was smiling. Albeit a small one, it was a real smile.

She had forced that incident in the deep recesses of her mind. It was, if anything, mind boggling.

No point reasoning about it now. She had to really get some sleep if she was to be able to carry out her plans. Thirty minutes had passed during all the time she had been pondering to herself. She had less than five hours till school starts.

Another deep sigh came out of her soft lips. Before she finally succumbed to a fitful sleep, she remembered her trip to the amusement park with Naruto and Sasuke. It was a real blast, especially when they rode the Ferris wheel. Feelings of happiness, freedom, and companionship filled her. Somehow, she knew deep inside her that it was going to be a long time before that happens again.

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A young teenager with brown long hair tied in a ponytail and seemingly forever bored eyes sat at his room focusing all his concentration on his laptop.

He also had five other computers running in the room. Three were for the numerous security cameras set up on the compound of the Anbu Black Ops. The other two were used to keep contact of the higher ups, other operatives either on missions or vacations, and other organizations.

The one he was using now was his most outfitted and prized computer. It was his most handy laptop that carried all the information on Anbu operatives, targets both deceased and yet to become so, and new updates on other affiliation.

His current problem now was the three new recruits, well actually just two of them. He was trying to find information on them to put in his database.

The blonde wench, Yamanaka Ino, was easy enough. She was definitely not shy about putting her face for everyone to see. When Shikamaru had accessed her school's website and e-news, his face nearly blanched to see that she was almost practically in every article. She was the captain ball of Konoha Gakuen's volleyball team, the female representative of the sophomore year, and also the school's news editor; talk about Miss Popularity.

From other secret resources, he also found out where she lived, her relatives' and friends' names, and that her family owned a flower shop chain, along with other personal statistics.

'_Another troublesome woman. Better stay away from her.'_

The problem now was the other two. He had found out a lot about them from their school's e-news. He knew that they were the school's basketball stars and the other guy, Uchiha Sasuke was the male representative of the sophomore year and that he was the next heir to the million-dollar corporation, Uchiha Financial. That was common knowledge.

But anything even slightly personal like a list of relatives or friends; likes and dislikes; daily habits… Nothing at all comes up, even from his secret elite files. All information on these two was completely blocked!

He understood about the Uchiha boy. All information of him had probably been minimized for his protection and also for the company's. He was after all, heir to the most successful industries built by the most powerful clan in Japan.

The blonde boy, Uzumaki, was getting to his genius head and his last nerves. There was just nothing. Even if he was the bestfriend of the heir to the Uchiha Enterprise, he wouldn't be subject to the same clandestineness.

All he knew was that he lived with a family friend who was an operative at the Anbu Black Ops, Umino Iruka; which was why he knew of the fact. It was like he didn't exist before that. Iruka had been his teacher when he was younger and he had mentioned only once that he had adopted a kid.

Shikamaru sighed. He could just ask Iruka but he didn't want to perturb upon the man at this hour. He was probably fast asleep already; he was currently on leave as well.

'_Konoha Gakuen, huh?'_

He had wanted to ask Sakura before she left the premises, but thought better of it. She seemed vaguely out of it, and it wasn't smart to bother her when she was like that. She could absent-mindedly knock him over and unhinge a few bones. He shuddered; he remembered the unfortunate soul who didn't know Sakura's habit of being very reflexive and a klutz.

He was a new recruit and had a shoulder and hip bone dislocated. He was sent to the base's Emergency Room immediately. Sakura had showered him with profuse apologies, and of course, no one could ever be mad at her. Needless to say though, everyone stood their guard after that.

He thought back to when he last saw Sakura leave the compound. She seemed a little more preoccupied than normal. Shikamaru couldn't bother her again, she needed some rest. He'll just have to see for himself, their abilities._ 'Haruno should be able to test them soon enough.'_

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The next Monday morning…

Sakura was never a morning person. So when she tried to wake up, her face had met the wooden floor. That wasn't nice at all, better to be something that was forgotten all together. She went to the bathroom to freshen up. She brushed her teeth and finished her shower. Sakura was doing everything to fast that when she dressed up in her school uniform, she had her blue checkered skirt on backwards.

Sakura didn't make anything for breakfast, just toast and orange juice. She wolfed down her breakfast and ran out the door.

She looked at her watch and shouted, "Shit, I'm late!"

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A/N: Ahehe, did anyone expect that? Sakura is a member of the Anbu Black Ops, which is what, you ask? Well, you're going to have to find out next chapter, Kakashi is coming up… I love him, but not as much as I love Sasuke, Sai, and Itachi…glomp! Ah, Kasumi loves Sasuke is the best!

Please review! To the others, thanks for reading.


	3. Hansel, Gretel, and a Cat!

Chapter 3: Hansel, Gretel, and a Cat

Masque

Summary: The night holds as much promise as the day. Though the two are completely different, for two people, it's just perfect to hide their secret lives and loves… Being naïve to the reality of love or just ignorant of past experience, will a cherry blossom find her happiness in an avenger?

Disclaimer: "The real lesson in the story is to look underneath the underneath. Sometimes, people aren't what they usually seem to be… They might be your friend now, or probably someone you trust, but there are things that you may never know."

A/N: This chapter is dedicated to x3 33alex with that delightful review… Ahaha, lifted my spirits there. I totally called my sister just so I can show her, and secretly gloat of course. She got so mad, it wasn't even funny. She said she didn't like being called for something so useless, but I know she's just jealous. I sssoooo can see it in her eyes! LOL!!...

This wasn't the original story for chapter three but when I finished the first one, I felt it was really lacking and I didn't like how it went really. So not being unprofessional enough to just give you guys a crappy chapter, I decided to start from scratch. Too bad though, 'cause I really liked the logic I built on the original chapter three. Oh well… Enjoy.

Song Playing: Hands Down by Dashboard Confessional

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_The next Monday morning…_

_Sakura was never a morning person. So when she tried to wake up, her face had met the wooden floor. That wasn't nice at all. She went to the bathroom to freshen up. She brushed her teeth and finished her shower. Sakura was doing everything to fast that when she dressed up in her school uniform, she had her blue checkered skirt on backwards._

_Sakura didn't make anything for breakfast, just toast and orange juice. She wolfed down her breakfast and ran out the door._

_She looked at her watch and shouted, "Shit, I'm late!"_

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A loud giggling chorused throughout the gym. A group of girls were chatting amongst one another in high pitched voices. They were sitting on a long rectangular bench and some on the floor. In the middle of the girls on the bench, was a blonde haired girl with beautiful blue eyes, the Queen Bee. She stroked her hair playfully as she listened to the hottest gossips in school.

"Anyway, I heard that the closet-pervert Ebisu went on leave."

"Yeah, I overheard the teachers talking about the replacement. Shimizu, that old bag, said he was cute and _ever the gentleman." _The girl with burnt orange hair imitated the exact words of the old secretary.

The girls giggled even more. Amongst the silly laughs, a girl with black hair approached Ino.

"You know I saw something strange last Friday night." She started, trying to catch Ino's attention. Indeed she has.

"I saw forehead girl, Sakura, leaving a suspicious place the other night. She was dressed a little weird too. I was standing near her but she must have been pre-occupied not to notice me… Or her forehead was blocking her view!" Laughter was once again heard.

Ino looked at her closely, her vivacious blue eyes turned to little mean slits. "You're sure about this?"

The girl suddenly tensed. Ino looked a little intimidating now; this wasn't what was supposed to happen. She told Ino about what she saw so that she would look favorably at her…

"H-hai, I did see her…" she trailed off. She took out her phone from her bag. "Here, I have proof." She showed everyone the picture she took on her phone. Indeed it was Sakura, the pink hair attested to that.

"And why exactly were you out there at that time of night anyway?" Ino asked her skeptically. The girl with black hair tensed a second time around. She thought of a quick lie and said, "I met with my boyfriend."

They smiled at her, supporting.

Inside, all of them were thinking, '_Whore'_

What a bitch highschool was.

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In their background were two people playing one-on-one basketball on the other half of the basketball court.

Sasuke had the basketball and Naruto was blocking. Sasuke faked right and went left. He got through Naruto and shot. He had a triumphant smirk on.

"You're no challenge dobe." He said.

"Says you, you jerk… Come on, just one more chance… Oi, teme!" Naruto pleadingly asked.

Sasuke smirked at him and complied. "I haven't got anything to do anyway."

Naruto had the ball this time and Sasuke was guarding. Naruto looked directly at Sasuke's eyes. Both showed arrogance and the ever present air of determination to prove themselves through testosterone driven challenges.

"Shows what you know, bastard." Naruto knew he was better than Sasuke ever will be. He was just… special. The greatest… He smugly smirked.

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_Naruto wondered around his house. He only had his boxer that was decorated with heart prints on … A gift from Sakura the previous Christmas._

_He went to the kitchen and opened the pantry… "Nope, none here…"_

_Naruto went to the cupboard next to it. "Not here either." He said in a rather panicky voice._

_He calmed himself and simply scratched his head. He went to the refrigerator, his last and only hope for salvation. He opened the door and found it overflowing with cups and cups of ramen!... Or at least, what he hoped was there._

"_NNNNOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!! My ramen?!"_

_A man with brown hair and a gash just above his nose threw a shoe at Naruto's head with full force. "Shut up will you, you're disturbing the neighborhood!"_

_He looked outside the window and saw an elderly woman look at them with squinted eyes from across the hedge bordering their houses. He just waved his hand at her and gave her a sheepish grin._

_Iruka looked at Naruto. The boy was such a little monster when it came to ramen. Ugh!_

_Iruka fished for his wallet and gave Naruto a thousand yen. "Here, go buy yourself ramen until you puke to death." He said in a dead pan voice with an equally dead pan look._

_Naruto's eyes glimmered, took the money and rapidly went out the door. "Oi, you're the greatest Iruka!" he shouted from the door._

"_Wear some clothes Naruto!!!" Iruka shouted before he got far from the house looking like he just got laid, dumped, and then thrown out of the house._

_After he finally put some decent clothes on, meaning nothing that resembled biker gangs and cosplay superheroes… ehem… He immediately went to the nearest Ichiraku ramen stall._

_It was nearly dusk and he was musing to himself about how tasty ramen was and what flavor of ramen he was going to order along the way, when he heard a scream from along the corner. Naruto hurriedly ran to the sound._

_There were three thugs ganging up on their old woman neighbor! From the looks of it, they were trying to take her purse from her… What sickos, ganging up on an old lady!_

_Naruto made his way to the three and punched the first one he laid his hands on._

_He was so infuriated just at the thought of anyone being treated badly. Ever since he was a child and Iruka had told him how he found him, he had a burning desire in him to help the oppressed. Perhaps it was his way of repaying God for when Iruka had found him in the fire. Perhaps it was his way of thanking the One above for his good fortune of having a father figure, friends, and a life rather than having none at all…_

"_Leave the woman alone!"_

_The men laughed at him. One of them was holding the already passed out woman by the waist. "Don't be a hero kid! You don't want to get hurt…"_

_Naruto's eyes narrowed even more. How dare he give him that condescending tone?!_

'_I'll show him.'_

_Naruto charged in to the four. He was about to punch the nearest thug when one of them tripped him. They all laughed harder than before._

_Naruto got up and swung at the guy who tripped him but another one kicked him at his stomach. Before he got up again, they all kicked him around all the while bellowing loud._

"_You're all talk kid!"_

'_That's not true…'_

"_We were going to let the lady go but now that you've come around, we'll just have to kill you both!"_

'_Don't you…'_

_He slowly got up. The men all backed up a little but still had that smug aura around them._

"_You still want some more beating kid?!" one of them asked._

_Suddenly, a strange thin orange mist started to envelop Naruto. It started to outline his form. He looked up to the ruffians; his eyes were no longer blue but were a deep red._

_The men were startled by this and backed up a little._

"_D-Don't you… Dare!!" he shouted at them. This effectively made one of them fall on his ass and cower in fear. Their leader commanded him to stand but he wouldn't budge, his eyes never left Naruto._

"_Fuck off kid!" one of them brashly ran to Naruto, aiming a punch at him. Naruto caught his fist with his hand. He held it tightly and the man started yelping in pain. Naruto was crushing the guy's hand._

_He let go of the man's arm and made a move to off-balance him and slam him to the ground. It worked and the man was now unconscious._

"_W-Who the fuck are you?!" the man holding the lady asked._

"_I'm Uzumaki Naruto, hero of the underdog!" he shouted at him with a smirk on his face._

_The three never saw it coming but Naruto moved so fast and knocked them out without them even realizing it._

"_HA!" he shouted smugly at them. He was going to wake the old lady up when he suddenly felt dizzy. His vision started to get fuzzy and his strength started to falter. The last thing he saw was the old lady slowly opening her eyes._

"_Good, you're… okay then…" he fainted._

_When he came to, he found himself in a totally white room; he was in the hospital, full of bruises courtesy of the robbers. There were three people there, namely; Iruka, Sasuke, and Sakura._

_Sakura was the first to notice that he had woken up. She hugged him all the while slightly crying. She was telling him something like: "I can't believe you are such a moron, don't ever do that again!" but all he heard was: "I love you so much Naruto! I don't know what I would have done if you died!"_

_Naruto was blushing like an idiot when he had finally noticed Sasuke by the door. He was looking at them, the two of them… with not that much emotion. But then again, one can never really tell with an Uchiha, they have real good poker faces to put it one way._

_Iruka was just smiling but he noticed that something was bothering him._

_He asked them about the old woman and the thugs. Apparently, Iruka had been looking for Naruto because it was already late and he wasn't home yet. He found him in the shortcut he always took to get to Ichiraku. He had been surprised to see him, their elderly neighbor, and four men passed out._

_The men were taken by the police and headed straight to jail. He and the old woman were taken to the hospital. The woman had awoken first and told them about the four robbers and how Naruto had saved her. Well, the old woman probably wouldn't be passing any bad remarks on them in the near future._

_At the end, all he could say was, "Hey, I haven't had my ramen yet!"_

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Naruto passed through Sasuke's defense and was about to make a dunk when the bell rang, signaling the end of the class. He fell midway through his slam dunk and got very intimate with the floor.

"Itai!" he looked up to see black sneakers near his face.

"Told you so dobe." Sasuke told him. "Just help me get back up teme." Naruto said to him while rubbing his nose. Sasuke just passed him and didn't even make an effort.

"You were lucky this time Sasuke-bastard!" he shouted at him while Sasuke made his way outside the gym doors.

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Lunch was Naruto's favorite subject, not even dismissal could top it off. As long as it involved food, it was top on his list.

He took two plastic trays and handed one to Sasuke who was just behind him. Naruto looked at the food the cafeteria was offering that day. Spaghetti, burgers, lasagna… chicken sandwiches… Sashimi, tofu, and sushi… "Ooohhh, norimaki!" Naruto awed, his mouth already salivating.

Naruto took almost one of everything while Sasuke in tow, only took medium portions of sashimi, lasagna, and a burger… Well, he was a growing boy.

Naruto was looking for a table for them to sit in. He was scanning the room when he saw pink. That could only have had been Sakura. Naruto marched to where Sakura was and shouted to call her attention. Sakura didn't seem to notice their presence until Naruto slammed his tray at the table.

Sakura nearly jumped when she heard the crash of the tray near her. She had been absent-mindedly looking out the window at the sky. A very Shikamaru thing to do, she mused.

"What's wrong? You look like you've seen a ghost." Sasuke asked, noticing her reaction.

Sakura shook her head no. "You just startled me, that's all." She had her forced smile on for show.

Sasuke frowned slightly so that even he didn't notice. _'Well, if she didn't want to tell us, she shouldn't.'_

He sat down across Sakura and Naruto. He had barely started to eat when he heard his name being called, to be more specific, being screeched.

"Sasuke-kun!!" Ino shouted at him. She asked if she could sit right next to Sasuke but went on ahead anyway before he had a chance to answer.

Naruto and Sakura looked annoyed at this. Ino just didn't mind them and attempted to converse with Sasuke. She was of course; enjoying the irritation she caused the two.

"So anyway Sasuke-_kun_, about that interview you promised me…" Ino started coyly.

Naruto's ears perked up. '_How come teme's got an interview and I don't? I'm better than he is!'_ he thought, the metaphorical fire jumping out of his eyes.

"What interview, Sasuke you jerk?!" Naruto asked Sasuke who was silently eating, unfortunately unable to enjoy his food because of the noise.

"It's for the whole team you dobe, the school news team wants to make an article…" he droned.

"Eh?" Naruto sufficiently calmed and thought about it. "Good then! I should be in the front page because I am _sssoooo_ much better than stupid Sasuke-teme!"

"Like hell, loser! Sasuke-kun is so much better than you ever will!"

"Yeah, well, I am so totally more handsome than Sasuke!" he argued.

"The hell?!... You idiot, I'm the editor-in-chief! I say what the article is about and I decide who gets to be in the front page!" their faces were inches away from each other just about ready to pounce.

Three veins were throbbing on Sasuke's head. He wasn't getting any peace and quiet apparently. He was about to make them shut up when Sakura beat him to it.

Sakura stood up from her chair and carried her books and tray with her. "I'm sorry; I can't stomach this right now. See you guys later." She had excused herself.

They looked at her retreating figure and thought only one thing…

_She's acting weird today…_

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After lunch was Literature class. The students had long entered the class and the teacher has shown neither hair nor shadow. Some students had grown tired of waiting in their seats and had already formed a gathering for their own entertainment.

The girls were to one side, playing a game reminiscent to truth or dare; while the guys were up on their desk and just picking fights and doing pranks on each other. Except for Sasuke anyway, and Naruto who was sitting next to him trying to make him talk. He gave up seconds later finally realizing that it was a futile attempt.

"Sasuke…" he started, "Do you like Ino?" to this, Sasuke actually opened his eyes and sat up. "Why would you think that?" It was just like him to give a question back when he didn't want to answer one.

"Well, you know. You just don't get irritated when she's near you, but you hate girls!" Naruto was sitting up the desk now as if to emphasize his point.

"Yeah, so? I don't like fangirls, not girls in general." His desk was beside the window and he was currently absent-mindedly looking outside.

Naruto raised an eyebrow at the answer. "Sasuke… She's as fangirl as any fangirl can hope to be! She's the _president_ of your _fan club_." Naruto said as if it was all the wrong in the world.

Sasuke shot him a glare that dared him to continue. Naruto was startled, he had never seen him look like that, much less care for a girl to actually get even slightly mad.

Sasuke sighed; his eyes were back to their usual cold state. He looked at Naruto seriously this time. "Just drop it Naruto. Don't you think that if I don't mind her, I might actually like her?"

"So you actually like Ino?!?" Naruto had shouted for all the class to hear. They all stopped what they were doing and listened, especially Sakura and Ino. "A little louder you idiot, I don't think they heard you in China!" Sasuke said through gritted teeth as he put a hand on Naruto's shoulder to roughly bring him down from his standing position.

Naruto went a little closer to Sasuke so he can whisper the question. "Well do you?"

"I don't know dobe." Sasuke sighed. He seemed to be doing that often.

"What do you mean –?!" Naruto was going to continue when he noticed that the class had suddenly gone quiet and Sasuke had stopped paying attention to him.

"So what _are_ you two talking about? Can I join in the conversation?" a jolly male voice said to Naruto, from the volume of the voice, he was directly behind him.

Naruto broke into a cold sweat. Was it possible that the new teacher was the owner of that voice? He turned around to look, crossing his fingers that it wasn't the case.

Unfortunately, luck wasn't on his side today. He was confronted by white hair and a totally annoying grin. "Yo… What are you doing?" The man had a mask on, covering his nose down. He also had a piece of cloth tied around his head and covering his left eye.

So far, Naruto was still on the desk. "Dobe, get of my desk…"

"Well?" the white haired man made Naruto return his attention back to him.

"Ano sa,… You're late!" Naruto shouted accusingly at him. He was trying to justify his situation.

"I know, but you see, I was trying to chase a cat that had gotten inside the building." He had said while smiling as if everything he had just said wasn't pure crap.

Naruto gave him a deadpan look, an eyebrow was raised. "Oi, do you really believe you can fool us with that super lame excuse?"

"All right, all right." The guy backed up quite considerably and threw his hands in the air, "Believe what you want, just get down the desk and go back to your seat." He went to the front of the class right next to the whiteboard.

"My name is Hatake Kakashi. I will be substituting for Ebisu-san and I will be your new Literature teacher prior to his return." He paused and took up the school book. He stared at it for a minute and chucked it out the window.

The class started whispering.

"Ebisu's literary choice is totally boring so… I decided to get you a new book!" he said exuberantly whilst showing them a small thin book.

Sasuke looked at it closely, his eyebrow started to twitch. "Hell no…"

Naruto also looked at it closely because of Sasuke's strange reaction. His eyes widened. "You're kidding us! T-that's—"

"HANSEL AND GRETEL!!!" they all shouted.

"You freak, do you think we're kids?!" one boy with long brown hair yelled.

The class continued to shout at Kakashi and barraged him with questions. He held up his hands in front of him for protection. A sweatdrop rolled down the side of his face, who knew teenagers this day could be so touchy?

When the yelling had finally subsided, he told them his reason for choosing _that_ book. "Well you see, Hansel and Gretel is a very _interesting _and I really think that this book can teach you something of value… But if you don't want to, we can always just use this book!" he showed them a familiar book bound in orange; he had a perverted grin on. The book read: 'Icha Icha Paradise!'

"GO TO HELL, YOU Pervert!!!"

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A few minutes of sheer boredom to drool on later…

"…Hansel and Gretel were blood thirsty murderers. As you can _clearly_ see, the Grimm brothers incorporated their own twisted and sick ideas unknowingly to children through the means of fairy tales. As you can see in this demographic scale…" he held up a chart for all of them to see "Child violence rate has gone up to thirty percent since the publication of the Grimm Fairytales." He said all of these so cheerfully as if it were all common knowledge.

The students all had their mouths hung open and their eyes wider than saucers. No one moved, heck no one even breathe. Finally, someone dared ask about their new sensei's sanity.

"Are you for real Kakashi-sensei?"

He suddenly stopped smiling and sighed.

"Just kidding!" he exclaimed in a sing-song voice.

The class (except Sasuke of course, being the bad-ass that he is) nearly fell down from their chairs.

"Baka! What was that all about then?!"

"I was just testing you if you could see underneath the underneath."

"Eh?!"

Kakashi sighed. He looked at them all sternly. "The real lesson in the story is to look underneath the underneath. Sometimes, people aren't what they usually seem to be… They might be your friend now, or probably someone you trust, but there are things that you may never know."

Kakashi sat on the wooden desk. The class had finally put their full attention to what Kakashi was saying. His eyes seemed to get glassy as he continued.

"As you go through life, you have to be careful about your choices and who you associate yourselves with…" he paused for a while and looked each of them in the eye.

"Another lesson you will find here is that some things happen for a reason whether you like it or not. If Hansel and Gretel hadn't found the witch's house, they would never have had found the witch's treasure to bring back to their family. Sure, they nearly got eaten by a cannibalistic witch, but life has its trials…" he shrugged.

He opened his mouth as if to say something, but the school bell had already rung. The class had not made any effort to stand up or move at all. They were all stunned by the fact that Kakashi had this kind of depth in him… I mean this coming from a man who read, well, Icha Icha Paradise!!

Seeing that they were all staring at him made Kakashi blush. "Oi, oi. You guys have other classes to attend to now." He said as he waved them away.

The class finally got up and went their way. Kakashi just shrugged, the crinkle in his eyes signified that he was smiling underneath the mask.

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"Yeah! Our hardships are finally over!" Naruto shouted.

He walked through the school's main door. He turned around to look at his onyx eyed friend behind him. Naruto frowned, annoyed. It is so just like the teme to never show any enthusiasm in anything.

"Oi, aren't you glad that classes are over?!"

"Aa" he didn't even look at him.

Naruto narrowed his eyes at him. "You know, sometimes the things you do annoy me so much."

Sasuke smirked. That may all be true but then again, that's what friends are for, right?

"Hey, why don't we go to Ichiraku and have some ramen? We can invite Sakura-chan and maybe, Ino—"

"Sasuke-kun!" well speak of the devil _herself_.

Ino's blonde hair swung in a pony tail as she ran to the two. A smile was in place on her face. She waved at them to wait for her. Both boys stopped to acknowledge her.

Naruto scowled. "Oh, its _Sasuke's little girlfriend_ again." He mocked as she finally caught up with them. He was still a little bit sore because Ino didn't want to interview him.

"Idiot." Ino narrowed her eyes at him. She then turned her attention to Sasuke and smiled at him.

"Are you doing something this afternoon? Maybe we could catch a movie or something?"

Sasuke merely looked at her and continued walking towards the gate. He decided to walk to school this morning. He figured he'd take the chance that his fangirls were still asleep. It's a good thing his instincts were good.

When Sasuke made no intention on answering, Naruto took the liberty.

"As a matter of fact" he said in a sing-song voice "Me and Sasuke-teme were planning on going to Ichiraku! We were going to invite you and Sakura-chan to make it a double-date but since you didn't want to put me on the front page—"

Ino stopped Naruto's rant by laughing. She looked at him condescendingly, with leering eyes and a smirk.

"You'll never be able to invite _Sakura_." She said her name in a tone that showed contempt.

"She has other things to do." She sarcastically said. Naruto glared at that statement.

"What do you mean by that?" his voice menacing and his tone low. Even Sasuke turned when he heard their conversation.

"I mean Sakura wouldn't be interested in that, she could be doing some other things, if you know what I mean." She said in an all-knowing tone.

Naruto was furious and his nose was flaring. He was about to launch himself on Ino when Sasuke caught his arms. Ino nearly fell down in shock.

"Let me at her, teme!!" he looked ferociously at Ino. "Sakura-chan is not like that!!" When it came to Sakura, he'd raise hell at anyone bad-mouthing her, even if it were a girl.

Sasuke was bothered about what Ino had said as well. Don't let the fact that he prevented Ino from getting mauled by Naruto fool you. It's just that he knew that hitting a girl didn't prove anything and that he had more rationale than the easily angered blond.

"You don't know what you're saying!"

"Oh yeah, well a girl from my class saw her leaving a dark alley last Friday night. That place was somewhere in the seedy part of town."

"Ha! Well that's where you're wrong. The teme and I dropped Sakura off at her dorm last Friday night after we got home from the amusement park! Besides, how do you know that it really was Sakura?!"

"My source said that she was leaving the place after midnight already. Plus, there aren't that too many girls with pink hair are there? And I have proof, here." she said haughtily as she fished her phone from her tote bag.

Sasuke and Naruto looked at the phone's screen. The darkness threw the whole picture of but the hair _was_ unmistakable. Naruto couldn't find anything more to say to Ino. But deep inside him, he knew that Sakura wasn't that kind of girl. No, he would never believe it!

"Just lay it off, Ino." Sasuke finally spoke. His face was impassive but his eyes betrayed him. He looked thoroughly annoyed and, heaven forbid, angry.

Ino looked stricken for a moment, but continued on her tirade anyway. He looked straight at Naruto's eyes.

"Why don't you try and prove me wrong then. Let's follow her and see where she goes later."

"I don't see the point to this. I already know Sakura's innocent!" the blonde boy said. Sasuke had finally let go of his arms seeing that he had calm down.

"Come on, haven't you noticed she's been acting weird lately?" she asked.

Naruto had to agree on this one. Lately, she had been falling asleep on classes more often, good thing most of the teachers didn't notice, or at least tried not to.

Ino noticed the look of concern on Naruto's eyes and knew that she had hit the mark. She was suddenly a lot more confident about her proposal now. She might even get Sasuke to come along!

"So what do you say? There's no harm in trying, ne?"

Naruto thought it over. He looked both at Ino and then at Sasuke, asking for advice. It just felt wrong to agree to this.

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_Beep_

_Honk_

The sound of traffic filled the roads and streets. It was now afternoon and most of the blue-collar workers had already started to go home to their families. The hot sun was still fractionally up in the sky though, and its heat was starting to shorten the already short patience.

Three individuals snuck behind and around posts, mail boxes, even trash cans; just so the pink haired young woman they were following wouldn't notice them. Two of them watched their target closely while one was deeply pondering what he was even doing there in the first place.

'_Because the dobe and Ino wouldn't let me hear the end of it if I didn't.' _

In truth, he wanted to find out what Sakura was really up to. He knew she wasn't— a well, a 'call girl' if you must, that was totally out of the question. Sakura just doesn't strike him as that. So there must be something else. He'd be a loath to admit that he was; if you dig very, extremely, totally, absolutely deep in his conscience and heart; worried for her. She was after all, a friend.

But what they were doing now was just no where near his comfort zone. They were stalking her, for Pete's sake. This was downright stupid and only something his two other companions would think of.

"Let's just go home. People are giving us weird looks." He said half-heartedly.

"No way teme. I'm going to prove to Ino-pig that she's wrong! Believe it!"

Ino scowled and beat Naruto on the head.

"Ow"

"Don't call me pig. I'm not even fat, see I'm skinny." She shoved her arm at Naruto's face to emphasize her point.

Sasuke shushed them both. For all of their sakes, Sakura had better not find out that they were following her. Whenever Sakura's temper flared up, she had the tendency to be very physical. Sasuke did not want to be in the receiving end of one of her famous blows.

"Come on, she's not even doing anything suspicious. She's just buying ice cream." He tried to reason with them again.

"Well let's follow her anyway. This is getting fun. Or are you getting scared, teme?" Naruto egged him on.

Sasuke swallowed a lump in his throat. He was not going down on a clear challenge like this. It's just that he knew what they were doing was wrong.

He sighed.

So he gave up and just opted for giving the stupid blonde a smack on the head.

"You were the one who didn't want to do this in the first place!... Che, I had nothing to do with this."

"What is with you all and hurting my head? You guys call me stupid, yet you're the one punching me in the head and killing all my brain cells." He said, rubbing the ever growing bump on his head.

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Sakura giggled at their behavior.

Did they really think that she wouldn't notice them following behind her? Sure, maybe if it was just Sasuke, she could have gone a few miles before she noticed.

But Naruto wasn't called an idiot, and Ino a banshee for nothing. All the time they were following her Naruto had tripped a few items and Ino-pig hadn't shut up. They did keep a good distance though; just enough so they wouldn't notice that she knew they were there.

Her plan was easily set the moment she stepped out of the compound after her briefing. She knew one of Ino's friends was out late at nights, and she made sure that she saw her. a kindling to the fire.

She thanked the lady and took the paper bag that contained her groceries, two jars of ice cream. One was Double Dutch and the other was Strawberry; both were her favorites. It was nice to treat herself once in a while.

'_Yum'_

_------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------_

"Hey, she's moved."

Naruto signaled for the others to follow him. This time they were careful that Naruto did not knock down anything along the way. They were thankful that Sakura had not noticed them yet despite the noise they made.

They followed her straight the slanted down sidewalk. They were now downtown and, to their fear, the shady part of the city.

Sakura was walking along like nothing was wrong, the people— who mind you looked like drug addicts and psycho killers— disregarded her and barely gave her a glance. In fact, they even refused to meet her own and seemed to stop their activities as she came.

When Naruto, Sasuke, and Ino stalked behind Sakura, they all gave them weird glances. As if they knew something was going to happen, they all halted what they were doing and disappeared in the dark alleys.

Ino was behind Sasuke and clutching the shirt on his back. She was obviously scared and was currently regretting going to the place.

Both Sasuke and Naruto had deep scowls planted on their lips. The place was dangerous they knew. Add in that mysterious feeling –the one that seems to kick you behind yet you disregard it – that something was totally off, it made for a powerful combination of fear and anxiety at its best.

They were so pre-occupied with their surrounding that they nearly lost Sakura's track until Sasuke saw a dash of pink turning right to an alleyway.

'_What is that onna doing here?' _Sasuke thought worriedly.

They all silently followed her along the dark and winding path. Sounds of water splashing rebounded from wall to wall as they hurriedly followed Sakura in the dark alley.

Somehow, they all finally figured out that there was more to this than accusing Sakura of being a whore. The place was too dangerous for that kind of work and… They all felt it deep down in their guts that this was something bigger than anything.

When they finally reached the end of the alley, they found that Sakura was nowhere to be seen. Also, they saw that the alley was a dead end so there was no way they could have lost her along the way.

Sasuke looked over the walls. Only one side of them wasn't part of a building and it was too high for anyone to jump.

"Where did she go?" Naruto asked; his voice trembled against his will.

He searched around with only the dim light of a lamppost helping him. Naruto saw a huge metal door. Oddly enough, as he stared at it, the door seemed to get nearer and bigger, giving him a discomforting feeling I the pit of his stomach.

The sky had mysteriously given way to the stars and, eerily, the dark moon. Sasuke looked at his watch, not that he could really see in the badly lit place, but he swore that it had been at least an hour or two before sunset when they got here. They couldn't have had really lost track of time while playing a dangerous game of hide-and-seek with Sakura, could they?

"A-ano s-sa, maybe we s-should go now, S-s-Sasuke-kun." Ino stuttered as he looked up at Sasuke with frightened eyes.

Sasuke frowned. He hadn't even noticed how close Ino had gotten, but it wasn't relevant now that sticking together was the plan. It was obvious that something was obviously quite wrong.

They huddled closer together, widening their eyes to expect the unexpected. Darkness had closed in on them and that's when they heard a deep chuckle, it was probably male because of the deep tone… To their horror, it had turned into a full blown laugh.

Clear and loud…

Brazen and arrogant…

As the laughter turned louder, it also seemed to the three as if it were coming from everywhere. Ino had doubled back down while pressing her hands hard to the side of her head to cover her ears. Tears started to stream down her face although she tried not to.

"Augh,…my head hurts so much…" she groaned.

The laughter bored itself painfully in their heads, reaching to their sub conscious. The blood rushed to their ears and made painful throbbing there accompanying the mad laughter as the rate of their heartbeat increased.

Naruto remained standing but was also pressing his hands against his ears. He clenched his eyes shut, willing the loud laughter to disappear.

Sasuke, who was probably too proud to lessen the sound, opted instead to clenching both of his fists while trying to pinpoint where the sound was coming from.

Sasuke focused his attention to his left, where the lamppost stood. Sure enough, a group of men stood in the light. There were four of them to be exact.

'_Oh damn, what have I gotten my self into?'_

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A/N: Yehey, cliffie! Kidding, I really do hate cliff hangers as well, especially if I like the story. I hope that you feel totally infuriated with this cliff hanger because if you do then that means my mission is successful! You ask why? 'Cause that means you like the story enough to care that it ended in a cliffie! Wahoo… I tried writing Sasuke parts here since he is one of my favorite guy in the whole anime business and because there wasn't really enough of him in the previous chapters. I have to say, the others were right, Sasuke really is hard to write because of his character. LOL… Ahaha, so happy, I only intended to make it a three thousand words chapter but it turned out to be at least six thousand plus, kewl.

Please review guys, because if you do, I might update faster, seriously. I'll update depending on the number of reviews I get so drop in a while after you read. Who knows, I might actually update in as fast as a week! If no one reviews I'm holding the fics for a while. I promise I'll update in a week if and only if I get 10 reviews, thanks

By the way, I'm starting a new fics. Check it out when I've posted it some time in the future. It's a sasusaku XD. The title is: Teardrops in Summer

Summary: Two siblings find a diary up in their attic amongst other long forsaken mementos. Opening the diary, they discover the story of an old romance that took place in an old beach house near the sea as they themselves journey to a part of their past.

I'll be posting it in a couple of days. By the way, if you're thinking out there, it is not incest.

Remember, I absolutely adore your reviews so push that button at the left corner and review. Please and thank you! (//.T)


	4. I Can See You But You Can't See Me!

Chapter 4: "I See You But You Don't See Me!"

Masque

Summary: "…I'll tell you why you're all here." There was a mocking tone in his voice… who could these mysterious people be? Read as they gear up for one of the most important battle they'll ever face!!

Sorry for the long update but I really had to wait for this day. You know why? Of course you do! It's Sasuke's birthday! Ahaha, too bad I had class today; the current leader of the country wouldn't be threatened with the AK47 I had poised at her skull. LOLZ. Also, I would like to shout another happy birthday to two of my friends who would also be celebrating their friends on this same day (damn lucky people!), Paula and Kero! Woot, woot!

Song Playing: New Born by Muse

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"_A-ano s-sa, maybe we s-should go now, S-s-Sasuke-kun." Ino stuttered as he looked up at Sasuke with frightened eyes._

_Sasuke frowned. He hadn't even noticed how close Ino had gotten, but it wasn't relevant now that sticking together was the plan. It was obvious that something was obviously quite wrong._

_They huddled closer together, widening their eyes to expect the unexpected. Darkness had closed in on them and that's when they heard a deep chuckle, it was probably male because of the deep tone… To their horror, it had turned into a full blown laugh. _

_Clear and loud…_

_Brazen and arrogant…_

_As the laughter turned louder, it also seemed to the three as if it were coming from everywhere. Ino had doubled back down while pressing her hands hard to the side of her head to cover her ears. Tears started to stream down her face although she tried not to._

"_Augh,…my head hurts so much…" she groaned._

_The laughter bored itself painfully in their heads, reaching to their sub conscious. The blood rushed to their ears and made painful throbbing there accompanying the mad laughter as the rate of their heartbeat increased. _

_Naruto remained standing but was also pressing his hands against his ears. He clenched his eyes shut, willing the loud laughter to disappear._

_Sasuke, who was probably too proud to lessen the sound, opted instead to clenching both of his fists while trying to pinpoint where the sound was coming from._

_Sasuke focused his attention to his left, where the lamppost stood. Sure enough, a group of men stood in the light. There were four of them to be exact._

'_Oh damn, what have I gotten my self into?'_

_------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------_

Four absolutely able bodied men stepped out to the lime light.

"Oh look, dinner." he had big, dark brown hair that spread out everywhere and a metal mask covering his lower face. His eyes were glinting with malice.

"The nerve of them to come here. What should we do with them?" just like the one that spoke before, had dark brown spiky hair. He had a huge mechanical looking device stuck to his left arm. His human hand cradled it in the light.

Another one of them was bald and had extremely well-defined muscles and towered over the other three.

"I don't like girls, boss." he leered at Ino who cringed both in fear and disgust.

The one on the front was a little leaner than the others although he seemed to be leading the group. They all wore black jackets in different styles.

"Well what do we have here?"

Sasuke looked apprehensively at them. They were outnumbered, discounting Ino of course assuming she can't fight. He looked around them through his peripheral vision so he didn't have to take his eyes off the men in front of them unless they pull a fast one on them. The only way out was where they had come from and the huge bolted door to his right.

There was no escape.

Which made him wonder where Sakura had run off to…? They had to search for her later; they had other problems at hand, although he had a sneaking suspicion as to what was happening.

The apparent leader stepped forward to them but still out of striking distance. He was remarkably less muscular than the others but the movement underneath the tight gray t-shirt partly obscured by a black vest hinted that he took care of his body very well. He had ruffled brown hair down to his shoulders and hazel eyes shielded by green rimmed glasses.

He smirked as he spoke to them.

"I'm sorry for this little inconvenient, but I'm sure we could patch this up, don't you think? You see, _we_ control this part of town and you're trespassing in_ our _territory right now."

Sasuke glared at him and looked back at Ino and Naruto. He balled his left hand into a fist when he realized that they probably had to fight them. Then he smirked.

'_This should be good.'_

"We'll let you leave our place unharmed if you could give us a little _token of appreciation_ of course." He said with a sly smile. Oh how Sasuke would like to just wipe that smile off his face.

"In your dreams you jerk!! Where did you take Sakura-chan?!" Naruto shouted after regaining his bearings. He seethed, Sakura was no where to be seen so he figured that these guys took her. His blood boiled to think that these ugly jerks had _his_ Sakura-chan.

"Who's this 'Sakura-chan' you're talking about? We didn't see anyone with pink hair come across right, guys?" he replied mockingly. He was pushing it.

Naruto was about to clock him when the leader spoke again.

"I'm sorry, how rude of us. We haven't introduced ourselves yet" He paused.

He pointed to the twins and introduced them as Meizu and Gouzu. They both grunted in response, apparently they were fraternal twins since all they had in common were their black hair.

The leader then pointed at the gargantuan man behind them. He looked indifferent and— if met on a different time and place, would have been thought as someone who had morals. "His name is Yuudai and he doesn't take too gladly with… nuisances."

He still wore an annoying smile when he raised his hand to his chest, as if introducing himself.

"And I am… Ayumu, leader of the Yemon Gang."

As soon as he said that, Yuudai disappeared from their backs. The three did not even have time to gasp when Yuudai appeared behind Ino and imprisoned her with his muscular arms. Ino's blue eyes widened as he and Yuudai disappeared into the depths of the dark alley before Sasuke and Naruto could even turned around.

"Asshole, where did you take Ino?!" As Naruto finished saying this one of the twins, Gouzu, lunged at him as they too disappeared in the darkness.

Sasuke eyed the two remaining members of the gang warily. His glare sent chills to their backs and panic to their hearts, if only momentarily of course.

A bead of cold sweat rolled down Meizu's jaw as he nodded when Ayumu signaled for him to go.

Meizu's brown eyes locked with Sasuke's. He grinned as if egging him on.

"If you want to find your friends, it would be best if you followed me now. That is, if you can catch me…"

With that said, he sped off into the void with Sasuke on his tails. The only one left in the alleyway was Ayumu. He fixed his glasses to the rim of his nose with his middle and index finger. His mouth slowly curved into a sadistic smirk.

'_I wonder if they really are as strong as she says they are.'_

Ayumu looked upward. He raised his right hand then paused before it reached up level to his neck. He flexed his hand, close open, and then he snapped. His fingers making a rather loud clicking noise in the darkness as all the lights disappeared with him.

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Sasuke's open button polo shirt ripped through the air and showed of a black v-neck tee shirt as he sped after Meizu. He had to wonder where they were going for a minute there; it was a dead end alleyway after all. Also, where did the dobe and the guy who took off with Ino go? He shrugged it off though since so far, nothing that has happened had been pretty normal anyway. First it was Sakura going downtown when her dorm was near the school then finding out that she's disappeared, second was this strange Yemon Gang…

Sasuke ran faster, he was going to get all he wanted to know from the freak ahead of him one way or the other. He was fast; he had to give him that.

He blinked in surprise for a second when the man in front of him suddenly stopped, so he did as well. He waited a little until he turned around. They both got into a fighting stance and both were glaring at one another. They were waiting as to who would attack first.

"I'm sorry; I don't think I caught your name."

"Hn"

"Oh come now, I think the least you could do is give me the pleasure of naming another one of my kills."

Sasuke raised an eyebrow in mock defiance (yet again). He sure wasn't planning on being road kill any time soon.

"Just shut up and fight." Sasuke smirked and made a stance and waved his left hand at Meizu, as if taunting him.

"All right little brat, but don't say I didn't warn you."

They lunged at each other at the same time. Both were aiming a fist at the others face. Meizu might be fast, Sasuke smirked, but he was definitely faster.

Meizu's eyes widened, and then blinked. Surely this must be a trick. Though it was fast, his mind processed it in slow motion. In his mind's eye he saw Sasuke evade the fist he directed to his face. He was too shocked that he himself forgot about the fist coming his way and hit him square in the face.

He stumbled back a foot or two. This Uchiha Sasuke was good, he didn't even flinch. Meizu rubbed the cheek that came in contact with Sasuke's fist and winced. Something definitely felt broken.

The older twin tried to hit Sasuke again and ran full force at him. Just before he reached him, Sasuke advanced forward and hit him swung his leg, straight to Meizu's gut.

Blood spew out the man's mouth because of the impact. Not only was Uchiha Sasuke fast, he was also strong.

"I suggest you tell me where they are, before I wipe the floor with you."

"Quite cocky aren't you kid?"

Sasuke scoffed. He already had the advantage. It was quite clear that he was the better fighter in this situation.

"You probably think you've got it all thought out, don't 'ya kid?" Sasuke's eyes bore into the man. There he goes again with calling him a kid. Quite frankly, Sasuke never liked to be treated like one, even before when he _was_ a kid.

Meizu stood up, very confident this time.

"Let's see you deal with this."

Suddenly, the same thing happened just like back at the dead end. The lights had completely disappeared and the darkness had engulfed them once again. Sasuke's eyes instinctively widened to let whatever light he can take in to make him see better.

'_That bastard, he doesn't fight fair'_

_All's fair in love and war… _a mocking voice whispered.

Sasuke tried to close his eyes and use his ears to listen for any movements. He checked at his right… Then to his left.

'_Then that must mean—!'_

Sasuke only had time to put both his arms in defense to deflect the kick that was supposed to hit his abdomen. His arms took most of the damaged inflicted by the kick and he flew a couple meters away.

"You're not too tough now that you can't see anything now, are you?"

Sasuke gritted his teeth. He put a hand in front of his mouth and coughed. When he stopped and fisted his palm, he found that it was coated with blood.

'_Damn.'_

Even if he could sense him in the dark, there was always that small gap of second between his movements and his defense to give his opponent a heavy advantage.

He only had one option left. With his opponent being… not _normal, _he supposed it wouldn't hurt being not normal as well. Uchiha Sasuke closed his eyes once again; his concentration did not lie on his fast opponent but to the task at hand. After a few minutes, his eyes slowly opened. Instead of dark as midnight eyes, captivating red orbs gleamed in the void.

Finally, he could see his opponent now. He was only a few meters away from him and, to his utter sadistic pleasure, his face was contorted in shock. The man was taken aback at the sight of glowing red eyes. He thought back at the info file _they _gave him. He knew the kid was an Uchiha but there was nothing there about him activating his… Sharingan.

It was the most feared and revered title in the underworld, the Sharingan. And even more so were the people who held them, the Uchihas, the most powerful clan in Japan. Meizu wondered a little how a kid like him could activate it at such an age.

As the fight progressed, Sasuke noticed that Meizu's fighting strategy changed. Before, he was aggressive but now he was trying to run from him. Sasuke smirked at the thought of his enemy afraid. He was sure of it.

"Are you scared now?" Sasuke mocked him. "This will be over soon." He promised them both. With that said and done, he ran after Meizu. With his Sharingan activated his speed increased twice fold. He easily out ran his challenger who, just moments ago, rode the wind. Sasuke battered a leg to his adversary's neck, making him both choke and double over. His aim was straight to the wind pipe and that had effectively stopped him from breathing for a few agonizing seconds. Judging from the blood spewing out his mouth, Sasuke knew he had to be in extreme pain.

Cautiously, he bent down on one knee and fisted the Meizu's collar with one hand. He lifted it so that his head would rise closer to his; just enough so Meizu could hear what he was going to say next.

"If you don't want to die yet, you had better tell me where Sakura and the others are." Venom was laced in every word.

To Sasuke's annoyance, Meizu simply laughed. He looked Sasuke in the eye, mirth showing. "Don't jerk me around boy. You can't kill me, you don't have the guts to do so and that's because you haven't killed yet… I know, I can smell it on you. You're _innocence._"

Meizu couldn't bite back the yelp that escaped his blood covered lips as Sasuke slammed his head back down to the hard concrete floor. His grip tightened on his collar to the point that he almost couldn't breathe and he started to get a little light headed.

"I will ask you once again. Where are they?"

Meizu had to speculate if he really meant his words, that he would kill him. He knew it was true that he hadn't killed before and therefore unaware of the dire consequences but on the other hand, he was an Uchiha. Uchihas don't lie. He sighed, as much as he could in his state, and complied.

"All right, I'll humor you then." He smirked as he saw the Uchiha's eyes getting more annoyed "I'll tell you what's happening here. Although from your smarts, I'd think you already knew."

"Talk." His words were as simple as that but it his icy voice cut through the darkness.

"You wonderin' what you're doing here? That's because you're…"

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"Let go of me, you oversized piece of lump!"

Ino was still thrown over the huge man's shoulder. She was already beyond the point of hysterical as she's tried everything to get away from the big guy. She's tried to clout him on the back even if she knew she hadn't strength, Ino's even tried to bribe him for Kami's sake! Even Yamanaka Ino, the girl who would go to hell and under just to get her precious Sasuke-kun, knew that now was a desperate effort.

"Keep quiet little girl. I don't want to have to do anything _rash_ on you." He smirked as he said the last part. He noticed that she seemed to stop her bothersome behavior when she realized what he meant.

Yuudai sighed in relief. The girl was much too _troublesome_ just like _he _said. He expected as much, _he _was never wrong and women were really exasperating in general, according to his experience anyway. He remembered all the women, and some young girls, he had ever had the displeasure of working with. Yuudai scowled and looked at the squirming girl on his shoulder. Yep, every last one of them are burdens.

"Look, if you behave, I promise to let you down." He knew the girl was probably embarrassed and annoyed at her position. Yuudai noticed that the wench stopped struggling once he uttered those words. Feeling a little more in control now, he dropped her down just as he promised— which proved to be a great mistake.

The minute he let her down, she elbowed him near the armpit area, a very sensitive part for any person, and crashed her head to his jaw. Yuudai lost his grip on Ino and the blonde girl used this chance to run into the darkness.

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"Heh, you're still alive boy?" Gouzu, the other twin, asked Naruto. Said blonde was currently lying in the floor in obvious discomfort. After Gouzu lunged at him, they seemed to fall in apparent darkness, with him hitting the ground hard and the other guy dropping on his feet like a cat would. A sick crack was heard when Naruto fell to the ground and he was pretty sure he wouldn't be sleeping well tonight.

Slowly, so he wouldn't further aggravate his injured body, Naruto got up and smudged the small trickle of blood that escaped his mouth after his fall. He glared hard at Gouzu, as if that would assure him that he was still okay. "I didn't know you bastard, cared." He smirked.

"Who said I did? I just wanted to know if I could drag your body back now." Gouzu said with an amused glint in his eyes. The moment Naruto got up straight; he ran to him and gave him a blow in the stomach that any other person would've collapsed from— which in truth, was what the boy did, for a while. "What, is that all you're worth boy?"

Naruto looked up at him from his slumping position. _Damn, how do I get rid of this guy? _

Uzumaki Naruto was wily by nature. He was a natural mischief maker. That was why when he hung their principal's trousers in place of the national flag during assembly when he was in elementary; he was given the nickname mischief 'meister. Now that he's in highschool, his talents for tomfoolery have only gained him even more popularity from the students and evil glares from the staff. This talent was what he was going to use against this Gouzu guy.

Naruto stood instantly and looked Gouzu in the eye. They were both caught up in an intense glaring competition. His eyes were the color of the sky, and his opponent's, dark ones. He made the usual judo stance, the one he learned when he found out that Sasuke was taking martial arts lessons. Gouzu smirked and formed a stance himself, ready for whatever move fox boy would do. Not.

Instead of attacking him, Naruto stuck out his tongue and brought one of his lower eyelids down. "Be-da!"

"What the fuck?!"

After this stunt, Naruto ran to the opposite direction and stunned his opponent. "Haha! See if you can catch my beautiful ass!" Gouzu just stood there dumbfounded for a few minutes. He blinked twice slowly. "What the hell just happened here?!" he shouted as he ran after Naruto.

A few seconds had passed and he has yet to find the blonde boy. He was left huffing in exhaustion alone in the abyss. His whole body was stiff and alert, cautious of any movement that might be his undoing. "Where the hell is that brat?"

As soon as the words came out of his mouth, he received his reply. Gouzu's head pounded and he felt massive pain when Naruto's feet connected with his head.

"Ha! My plan worked perfectly." Naruto muttered in excitement. He saw Gouzu clutch his head with need to alleviate the pain. His face was scrunched up. Quite confident that he had succeeded, Naruto readied himself for his next, and last, attack.

Gouzu seemed to remain immobile. Naruto lunged himself at his opponent with his fist aimed straight to his jugular. A few seconds before Naruto hit Gouzu, his fist was left punching open space because his intended target had moved. This was when he felt a searing pain in his stomach.

Naruto felt numbness after the pain. He looked down at his stomach and saw a silver blade coated with his blood protruding from his abdomen. He looked sideways and saw Gouzu's metal hand behind him.

Gouzu smirked and pulled out his mechanical hand from Naruto roughly. This made the fatal wound larger and more blood to spurt out. Naruto keeled to the ground while clutching his stomach.

"What now? You had enough yet?"

Naruto glared at him with all the hatred he could muster at the moment. Is this really how the great Uzumaki Naruto would end? Killed by a pathetic gang henchman?! He had so much more that he wanted to do… He hadn't even known if Sakura was alright… Or tell Sasuke that even though he was a bastard he still loved him as a brother.

His body was now fully slumped to the ground and it felt like a weight was forcibly pulling him down to hell. Even though his eyelids were drooping down, his other senses were still acute. He couldn't help but hear a shill, female scream come from the hollowness. Naruto heard Gouzu chuckle as he crouched down to him and roughly grabbed his head by his blonde hair.

"Wonder who that could be? Oh, maybe it's that pink haired musume we saw walking around before… Hm, is that the same girl you were looking for? Well, don't worry, I'm sure the boss is taking _really good_ care of her." to this he smirked and laughed loudly. Naruto's azure eyes nearly bulged out of their sockets.

'_No, Sakura-chan!!'_

No! He couldn't die now! Not now that's Sakura's in danger… But what could he do? He could feel his strength being sapped away from him by the gods of death. His almost lifeless eyes drooped down to the ground and he lazily looked at the rapidly thickening pool of his blood.

"_Naruto… wake up you stupid idiot!"_

"_Ouch, that hurts Sakura-chan…"_

"_Hn, you just never stop being annoying, the both of you…"_

"_Teme!!!!"_

…

…

…

…

The End…?

…

…

…

…

"_Leave the woman alone!"_

_The men laughed at him. One of them was holding the already passed out woman by the waist. "Don't be a hero kid! You don't want to get hurt…"_

_Naruto's eyes narrowed even more. How dare he give him that condescending tone?!_

'_I'll show him.'_

_Naruto charged in to the four. He was about to punch the nearest thug when one of them tripped him. They all laughed harder than before._

_Naruto got up and swung at the guy who tripped him but another one kicked him at his stomach. Before he got up again, they all kicked him around all the while bellowing loud._

"_You're all talk kid!"_

'_That's not true…'_

"_We were going to let the lady go but now that you've come around, we'll just have to kill you both!"_

'_Don't you…'_

_He slowly got up. The men all backed up a little but still had that smug aura around them._

"_You still want some more beating kid?!" one of them asked._

_Suddenly, a strange thin orange mist started to envelop Naruto. It started to outline his form. He looked up to the ruffians, his eyes were no longer blue but were a deep red._

_The men were startled by this and backed up a little._

"_D-Don't you… Dare!!" he shouted at them. This effectively made one of them fall on his ass and cower in fear. Their leader commanded him to stand but he wouldn't budge, his eyes never left Naruto._

"_Fuck off kid!" one of them brashly ran to Naruto, aiming a punch at him. Naruto caught his fist with his hand. He held it tightly and the man started yelping in pain. Naruto was crushing the guy's hand._

_He let go of the man's arm and made a move to off-balance him and slam him to the ground. It worked and the man was now unconscious._

"_W-Who the fuck are you?!" the man holding the lady asked._

"_I'm Uzumaki Naruto, hero of the underdog!" he shouted at him with a smirk on his face._

Naruto's eyes immediately snapped open. That was right! He was Uzumaki Naruto, hero of the underdog! He wasn't going out that easily. Slowly, as if to steady himself, he stood up. Gouzu was once again dumbfounded at the sight before him.

"How long does it take to kill you?! Do you have nine lives or what?!" he shouted almost frantically. He didn't know just exactly how close he was.

The sudden red glowing of Naruto's person did not appease his rising panic. He started to back away in fear of what might happen. He never expected this… Hell he didn't even know the boy had this kind of _power!_

Naruto's eyes changed colors, from innocent blue to raging red! It took Gouzu all his strength not to just fall down on his ass. He could feel it, all of _it_.The malevolent aura coming from Naruto was choking him and he couldn't breathe. He had never felt this kind of power since… "—!!!"

Now he understood everything. He had wondered why they wanted him to go all out on such a puny looking boy. He had protested that he didn't want to kill a child, even if he was a recruit. But the higher ups insisted he do it, _she _insisted that he do it. Rules were rules and he complied.

When he stuck his arm through the boy, he had wondered if they simply wanted to kill the boy. Naruto seemed insignificant enough and unimportant enough. That was until he saw _this!_ This boy was no ordinary child. This was— "…The Jinchuuriki Strategy…" his voice held all awe.

Gouzu closed his eyes and waited for death. There was nothing left but that, so he would wait patiently.

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"You're lying!!... That's— it can't be true!" Sasuke glared at Meizu. In a moment, just a split-second, his expression changed from shock to wrath. His grip left Meizu's collar and he aimed for his neck.

"You're lying! Tell me where she is and the others are!!" his tightened his hold on his neck, choking him if he tried to say anything otherwise.

Meizu coughed out more blood and couldn't breathe because of the large hands strangling him. He didn't get it. He told the Uchiha why they were there and still he thought that he was lying!? Hell, he was the one with everything to lose, not the Uchiha kid.

"Look, I've already told you all I know. Believe me, you're friends are still alive. You can go now and find him, we're finished here."

Sasuke opened his mouth as if to say something again but he was stopped by a loud, anguished scream. His head turned to the direction of the sound. He felt heaviness in his chest and stomach. _'That was Naruto!'_

Sasuke turned back to Meizu with his Sharingan fully ablaze. "You said they were alright!" he nearly shouted to his face. Meizu himself looked puzzled; he didn't know why that had happened as well. None of the recruits were supposed to be hurt in any disemboweling way and that scream sounded like the kid was torn in half!

"I don't know! None of you were supposed to get hurt sufficiently—"

Before the whole sentence left his mouth, Sasuke had picked him up from the ground and lifted him up through the collars of his shirt. This was easy to do since Sasuke was taller than him a few inches. Sasuke looked at Meizu gravely, contemplating what he would do with the scoundrel. He let out an agitated growl and simply tossed Meizu to the ground, hard. Sasuke ran to the direction of the scream.

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Ino nearly shrieked herself when she heard the same loud yell that Sasuke heard. A tremor went down her spine as she realized that it was Naruto. She panicked over what to do. As it currently stands, she was running the opposite direction from where the shout had come from, and to her logic, the opposite direction of danger.

Should she go back for Naruto or should she just run the hell out of the place. She and Naruto had never been close and she deemed him a nuisance and hindrance between her and Sasuke… But still, he was only human. She screamed in annoyance.

"You so owe me Naruto, you idiot!"

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Gouzu waited for the impact that would end his wretched life, but oddly, it never came. He opened one eye to peek at the horror in front of him. He was startled at the scene before him. Naruto was cradling, more like preventing from moving, his right hand with his left hand. He noticed that his right hand was inching closer to him. Had it not been for Naruto's control, he probably would've been dead by now.

'_I don't believe it. This one has reign over the… This is why they want him in Anbu.'_

A hoarse, strangled voice was what he heard. "Quick, show me where Sakura-chan is." He sounded pained. Gouzu nodded his head in compliance. He didn't even bother to get up and he simply pointed at the direction to the young girl. "She's waiting over there…"

…

…

…

'_Better be okay dobe… Sakura…'_

…

…

…

'_Why am I doing this?! I must be really stupid like Naruto!'_

…

…

…

'_Just wait Sakura-chan! I'll save you!'_

…

…

…

After a few minutes of running all over the place, the three has finally found each other. Both Ino and Sasuke were surprised and glad to see Naruto unharmed. Naruto was just glad that they were all together again.

"I was worried for a minute there dobe. I thought that you had died on us or something…" Sasuke said with his signature smirk. He was a little torn up and a small rivulet of dried blood could be seen at the edge of his mouth. his eyes were still red and he was breathing harshly from exhaustion.

"Yeah, and here I thought I could finally get to Sasuke without your bitch ass." Ino looked scuffed and dirty. Her normally kept hair was in disarray and beads of perspiration dropped from her forehead.

Out of the three of them, Naruto was the one who looked worst and probably felt the worse. The red aura had lessened and was barely noticeable, had it not been for Sasuke's sharingan. There was a huge hole in his shirt and a huge blob of dried blood. The fatal wound Gouzu dealt him had mysteriously disappeared, or if he had known better, healed itself. His blonde hair was also matted with dried blood mixed with dirt. He looked like he had been through hell and worse.

"Thanks guys. I _really_ feel the love."

All the lights suddenly opened and they had to squint their eyes for a moment so it could adjust to the burning light. When they had, they saw Ayumu on top of a huge pile of televisions and monitors. Some were broken and some showed them in different angles.

"I've been watching your fights, and I'm glad to say you performed better that I anticipated you would." At this, Sasuke growled and bared his teeth. "Oooh, kitty got claws." Ayumu cooed at Sasuke's reaction which angered the young Uchiha more.

"Where is Sakura?!" Naruto was the first to speak. Ayumu ignored him for a while, then trained his cold, electric blue eyes at Naruto lazily. This was the first time that they got to observe him properly. Ayumu had blonde, almost whitish, short hair that looked like an unkempt buzz cut. He was very lean and considerably tall although nowhere near Sasuke's height. He had shed off his black jacket and was wearing a pure white suit. He had piercings on his ears and two stapler like ones on the ridge of his nose.

"Maybe later… I like her a lot and I think she could satisfy me for a few more turns…" he smirked when he saw them all pale. He laughed a cruel laugh at their ridiculous expressions. The three of them had noticed, with a shiver, that it had been the same full laugh they had heard the first time before.

"You bastard!!" Naruto had yelled and started running up the mountain of electronics when a huge piece of equipment was hurtled to his direction. Ino's scream was heard in the background. Naruto nearly didn't miss the hit, had it not been for Sasuke steering him away.

"Thanks teme…"

"Hn. Just be careful dobe."

They looked up and saw Yuudai, the big guy who was Ino's captor. He was in a top ledge with a whole bunch of heavy material ready to be catapulted to them.

"Oh man, and here I thought it was going to be easier from here on in." Naruto pouted. "Aa, me too." Sasuke smirked and stood up.

"Hey, nice eyes teme. They look a little weird though…" Naruto had long realized that he was not the only one with powers in this freak show. It was only understandable that since all of their opponents had weird abilities, they had to have them to so that they could do combat right?

"Says the guy with red chakra running all over him." Sasuke, being observant and having known the real truth about their circumstance, figured just as much.

"Hey Naruto, remember that game we played against Ame?" Sasuke asked his bestfriend beside him without taking his eyes off of Yuudai.

"Yeah… You mean that one against the huge point guard, Akuma?" Naruto remembered that one alright. It was by far their most challenging game ever. Akuma was the nickname Naruto gave to the seven-foot tall point guard of Amegakure; he had given them so much trouble that he started portraying him as the devil…

"Just remember how we sacked him. You ready?"

"Hell yeah, captain!"

Naruto and Sasuke both rushed forward, simultaneously alternating at a specific time. Their teamwork was perfect and they were totally in sync! With the help of new abilities, they had Yuudai down in no time.

Ino looked on in awe. Sure he knew that Sasuke and Naruto were both strong… but not _this _strong! There had to be something wrong here, something from the beginning never did. First of all, she never really believed Sakura was an escort. She just wanted to spend time with Sasuke and maybe, just maybe, he'd forget about Sakura and go on a date with her… That obviously wasn't going to happen now.

Sasuke looked back up to Ayumu. All his confidence seemed to have gone. He was paler than before and his gait had slackened. He was looking at them in horror. He didn't know which was worse, what the two brats could do to him in reality, or his imagination? Ayumu looked just about ready to bolt and run. Sasuke and Naruto started to advance to him.

"N—no! Stay away!!" his words seemed to have no effect on them because the next thing he knew, they were already in front of him. Sasuke looked down at him with contempt while Naruto crouched down within eye-level with him. "Tell us where you've taken Sakura-chan!" his mouth was near Ayumu so much that he could see the fangs protruding from his gums.

"Well?!"

"She's at the room back there!... D-don't worry, she w-wasn't hurt. I-I was just k-kidding you…you…" he was hyperventilating so much that he stuttered so much. "Please, just d-d-don't hurt me."

Naruto, apparently content with the answer, stood up and looked at the huge barred door behind them. With nonchalance, he noticed that this was the same door they had encountered the first time they stepped in this dead zone. With a little alarm now, he had noticed that they were now back to where they thought Sakura disappeared in a dead end… Were had they all been running?!

The sky had finally returned and the whole dreary place was lit up by lampposts. Sasuke looked around, and even though it looked like it was over, didn't think that it really was. In fact, it seemed as if everything just seemed on getting deeper and murkier inside his mind. He looked back at where Ayumu was and found that he had fled. _'Wuss.'_

Sasuke approached the door a little warily, as if there was a trap set there for him. Naruto followed suit and moved just as cautiously. They stopped a few meters from the door side by side. "Hey, my heart's pounding teme. Why do you think that's so?" Naruto tried to smile despite the fear. "Hn, I think you're turning into a girl dobe."

"_Kkyyyaaaaa!!!!"_

…

…

…

…

They were just about to lift the barricades on the door when Ino screamed from behind them, again. Naruto and Sasuke looked back just in time to see Ayumu brandishing a long metal pole and swinging it in the direction of Naruto.

'_N-no way… Am I… go-going to LOSE WITHOUT A FIGHT!!!'_

Naruto's eyes widened then immediately closed, hoping to try and not feel the pain. There he was, waiting for the pain. Right now, his reflexes were failing him… The stars never came and the pain never hit.

Naruto looked up and saw a figure blocking Ayumu from dealing him any damage. Ino's hands involuntarily rose to her mouth and her vivid blue eyes shone like the moon. Sasuke… well, he only looked shocked for a moment then docile.

A blur of pink had passed between Ayumu and Naruto; Sakura had deflected the metal pipe with her arm!

Her normally beryl eyes widened, not in shock, but in confusion as she realized what Ayumu hoped to accomplish. He was _really _trying to kill Naruto! But why?

She didn't even wince when the pipe hit her. Ayumu on the other hand, seemed to have gotten even more scared when he saw her face. Her eyes conveyed that she knew what he was planning. His mouth opened agape and the pipe dropped with a metallic ring. Before he could run away in sheer fright, Sakura knocked him out by hitting his pressure points.

"Sakura…chan…"

…

…

…

Sakura was looking in from the shadows, from the sidelines, waiting to see what would happen next. She wondered slightly why Ayumu strayed from the scenario she's created for him to play. He was supposed to show them where she was, not egg them on and start a fight with them. And why had he told them that she was beyond the entrance to the hideout?

Things didn't look too right and, when she saw Ayumu pick up a metal pipe, it obviously it wasn't going to get any better. They were just about to lift the barricades on the door when Ino saw what was going to happen and reacted. She let out an ear piercing scream that fortunately, warned Naruto and Sasuke of the impending danger.

She saw Ayumu swinging the metal pipe in Naruto's direction. Her eyes got wider when she saw that Naruto wouldn't be able to deflect the hit in time!

"What the hell is that oaf trying to do?!" she didn't have to be a super genius like Shikamaru to figure out that Ayumu had no plans of sticking to the role she gave him. Sakura's eyes darted from Naruto to Ayumu; from Sasuke to Ino… she only had minutes to block the blow. So she did.

She didn't really had time to think about it, but her body had moved on its own accord. Perhaps it was reflex, the result of training; or just the urgent need to protect someone.

Sakura blocked the blow with his right arm. She tried to keep her façade fierce and not wince, but damn it hurt! She had her back from Naruto and Sasuke but was facing Ayumu, of course, and Ino. They were clearly shocked; she didn't have to turn her eyes away from that sniveling coward, Ayumu. Said man's face contorted in something that looked both like shock and fear.

Sakura quickly stabbed him in the neck with the tips of her fingers to make him faint. He fell down to the ground with a thud and Sakura didn't even bother catching him.

"Sakura-chan…"

She heard the soft whisper of her name and looked towards Naruto. His blue eyes were wide and he looked very much confused. He looked like a mess! He had blood and dirt stuck to his blonde hair making it look sandy beachy. His left eye was a little swollen and— fuck, is that a hole in his stomach!?

Naruto's power was not enough to heal his wound fully and so when he and Sasuke fought Yuudai, the injury smack dab at the middle of his stomach reopened.

"Naruto— h-hey, are you okay?! Stop swaying will you!" Naruto's azure blue eyes dimmed as he swayed back and forth. Finally he collapsed down, not to the hard ground, but to Sakura's awaiting arms. Sasuke rushed forward when he saw Naruto faint and so did Ino.

"Dobe! Are you okay?!" Sasuke had his hands on Naruto's shoulders, shaking him. Sakura glared at him and slapped his hands away from Naruto. "Don't do that, the wound will get larger!!"

Sasuke was stunned that Sakura had shouted at him (_him!!)_ but realized that she was right. He settled with fastening his hands beside him while his eyes focused on Naruto. There were few— almost none, things that could make Uchiha Sasuke tremble even in the slightest. This was the first time that he'd let anybody else see him in this kind of situation. Not even when his aniki left them… him.

For the first time in many years since his brother left them, Sasuke was at a loss. He looked down, unable to see his friend die. Naruto's blood was in his hands and fuck, there was nothing he could do.

Ino was hysterical. "What do we do now?!" her voice was shaky and she had right to be. Oh Kami, this was _not _how she wanted things to be! They were just supposed to go on a romantic walk, and now Naruto had a fucking hole in his stomach and all his icky, ramen-coated blood spilling out of him!

Sakura looked down and saw bright, red blood seeping from the wound colorfully to Naruto's orange t-shirt. No… _'This is al my fault…' _she was nearly in tears. There was quite nothing like holding the almost lifeless carcass of your bestfriend knowing full well that your own negligence was the cause.

'_He's losing blood, fast! This isn't good. If I don't do anything, he's gonna bleed to death!'_

Sakura decided there was no other way of doing this; she had to take them inside control center. There, someone could take care of Naruto while she brought Sasuke and Ino to the Sandaime.

"Sasuke,— Ino, help me get him inside."

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Ah… Where to start? The names. Meizu and Gouzu were the names of the two demon brothers who attacked team 7 in their first big mission in the "Zabuza and Haku arc", or so I've heard. Yuudai means 'great hero' or 'great man' because he was, for a lack of any better word, ginormous (Not a word…). Ayumu is a mixture of the word 'walk' and 'dream or vision', perfect because he distorted the surrounding so everyone could be separated and challenged. The gang's name, Yemon, means 'guarding the gate.'

And I write, write, and write! I think this is a little bit rushed. I'm not sure how this went; I'm not really apt to writing fight scenes. I just really suck at this, but I am hoping it turns out nicely. The story line-up and sequence makes sense to me; of course, I'm the author! But what about you guys? Read and review…

Oh yeah, I'm looking for someone who can help me when I'm going to write another action scene. You could review or PM, those who want to help me. I'll send whoever it is who wants it an unedited file of said chapter.

Thanks for those people who reviewed and added this story _and _my other stories to their favorites and supported me all the way! I hope you keep checking in with 'Nyx Eros.' I take a bow!

Feel free to post in reviews, I don't discriminate whether it's short or long, just as long you do. Also, although being favorited is great, I would really appreciate a review to coincide with it cause at least I know what and how you want me to go through with the story. In next weeks author notes, I will be entertaining answers that you send in for this chapter but only if you send it through reviews. Arigato!

Sneak Peek for next week!: The new recruits are now going to know who really pulls all the stops and just what the heck is just going on… How will Sakura cope to having to see Ino and Sasuke together everyday? Well, maybe Naruto could help. Not!!

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This is a footnote, I repeat, a footnote. This has just been a special day for me that I wanted to share it with you guys. This is in no way related to the story or anime, but kind of a story of a special thing that has happened to me and my class today. If you're not interested, it's okay, just skip this although I hope you would not. Anyway, I wanted to tell ALL of you that the Lord God, the living God is truly great! My eyes are still warm, red, and puffy from crying, nothing beats the feeling of being washed empty. The bible says that it's a good thing to give thanks to the Lord, so continue giving praise to God in everything you do.

For all those who understand: Masarap magmahal ang Diyos Ama!!

July 23, 2008 : Remember this day everyone, a revolution is coming to the youth!


	5. Heart of Silence

Chapter 5: Heart That Weeps

Masque

Summary: The new recruits are now going to know who really pulls all the stops and just what the heck is just going on… How will Sakura cope to having to see Ino and Sasuke together everyday? Well, maybe Naruto could help. Not!!

Back from hibernation! Goodbye school exams, you can kiss my sexy ass adieu! Farewell school projects, I shall not cry for you!... Damn cool, it rhymes! Haha!

Anyway, who's read _Twilight_? It is such a nice book, isn't it? Half an hour from being put on the shelves and its already been licked clean by scavengers!

Enjoy! Masashi Kishimoto did not steal Naruto from me! Smile.

Song Playing: Deliverance by Kitchie Nadal

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"_Naruto— h-hey, are you okay?! Stop swaying will you!" Naruto's azure blue eyes dimmed as he swayed back and forth. Finally he collapsed down, not to the hard ground, but to Sakura's awaiting arms. Sasuke rushed forward when he saw Naruto faint and so did Ino._

"_Dobe! Are you okay?!" Sasuke had his hands on Naruto's shoulders, shaking him. Sakura glared at him and slapped his hands away from Naruto. "Don't do that, the wound will get larger!!"_

_Sasuke was stunned that Sakura had shouted at him (him!!) but realized that she was right. He settled with fastening his hands beside him while his eyes focused on Naruto. There were few— almost none, things that could make Uchiha Sasuke tremble even in the slightest. This was the first time that he'd let anybody else see him in this kind of situation. Not even when his aniki left them… him._

_For the first time in many years since his brother left them, Sasuke was at a loss. He looked down, unable to see his friend die. Naruto's blood was in his hands and fuck, there was nothing he could do._

_Ino was hysterical. "What do we do now?!" her voice was shaky and she had right to be. Oh Kami, this was not how she wanted things to be! They were just supposed to go on a romantic walk, and now Naruto had a fucking hole in his stomach and all his icky, ramen-coated blood spilling out of him!_

_Sakura looked down and saw bright, red blood seeping from the wound colorfully to Naruto's orange t-shirt. No… 'This is al my fault…' she was nearly in tears. There was quite nothing like holding the almost lifeless carcass of your bestfriend knowing full well that your own negligence was the cause._

'_He's losing blood, fast! This isn't good. If I don't do anything, he's gonna bleed to death!'_

_Sakura decided there was no other way of doing this; she had to take them inside control center. There, someone could take care of Naruto while she brought Sasuke and Ino to the Sandaime._

"_Sasuke,— Ino, help me get him inside."_

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The infirmary inside the Anbu home base looked anything but ordinary. There were a string of incredible high-tech machinery that were probably a decade advance from what the outside world had. Its walls, although pristinely white, were outlined with blue plasma encased in opaque glass. A dozen of mechanic panels used to monitor a patient's life force were deliberately scattered among each bed.

It was in the same place where Sasuke, Sakura, and Ino sat while Naruto rested on a white sheet hospital bed with the symbol of the Anbu on it. No one dared to speak as they took in the day's events, though of course, it was far from over yet.

Sakura sat nearest to Naruto's sleeping form. Her hands were fisted and kept at bay on her lap. Her bottle-green eyes looked down to avoid meeting the two pair of eyes that were peering at her. She just couldn't. She blamed herself for what had happened to Naruto; and not just him, the others got hurt because of her as well. Tears welled up in her eyes. She knew she should've checked the three agents' file before assigning them to this mission!

After a lot of thinking, she finally decided to peek at the two behind her. Ino was dozing off already, tired from all the fighting. Her right arm was covered with bandages. Her platinum blonde hair still disheveled… Sasuke on the other hand, showed no signs of fatigue and was staring— glaring, right at her when she turned to him. Sakura almost jumped from her seat at the intense look he gave her. It was hard, however, to be afraid of him given his absurd state. His whole upper torso was wrapped in bandages, a patch of gauze covered his left shoulder blade and a small band-aid was placed upon his aristocratic nose.

"Explain."

Sasuke's voice was nearly a snarl. His voice was roughly low and hid an underlying anger. He never did like being kept in the dark. Sakura turned around completely to face him, having found her courage. Ino didn't seem to hear a word because she was already taking a nap, her head bobbed up and down.

How was she supposed to say this? _Hey Sasuke, I tried to get the three of you killed just to see if you could go and NOT get killed. We're still friends right? _She'd be lucky if she simply died.

Sakura raked her pink hair with her slender fingers. Sasuke's eyes never wavered from her form. "She's asleep. I'm the only one asking. You can tell me can't you, Sakura-_chan."_ This time, she returned his glare.

"I'm sorry."

His glare lessened a little bit. Slowly he closed his eyes and sighed. "That's all you have to say about it?" Sakura looked back down on her hands again; she had nothing else to say for the meantime. She didn't notice Sasuke stand up and walk to her. Her green eyes broadened as pools of black connected with hers when he crouched down.

"W-what is it?'

"You had no choice about it, did you?"

Strands of Sakura's strawberry hair swayed as she gently shook her head no. She still couldn't meet his gaze.

"Can you tell me who made you do it and why?" his voice was slowly turning more gentle. A big hand reached up and cupped her face; a blush came to her face at the contact that startled her… Maybe somebody had threatened her to deliver them— him, to a kidnapper or something. After all, he was an Uchiha; this isn't exactly the first time that this has happened.

Sakura hesitated to answer. She looked back to the sleeping Naruto and Ino. "I think it would be better if all of you were awake for… this." Sakura stood up and started to walk to where Naruto was, but a strong grip on her right arm stopped her.

Her head whip lashed back so fast it hurt, Sasuke was holding her back. Another hand soon gripped her left arm and now, she was completely in the Uchiha's grasp. Wrong choice of actions.

His face was so close— only a hair's breadth away, his breath fanned her face. The tip of their noses and their increasingly tempting lips were parallel. The connection was immediately static!

It intoxicated her having him this near. She wondered if she also had the same effects with the black haired Adonis.

When Sakura looked up to him, Sasuke's eyes had lost all its anger but had been replaced by another emotion. Curiosity perhaps?

"Tell me, Sakura."… although there was not one hint of resentment in his voice—in fact there was nothing that was driving his actions except that his mouth hover directly hers, Sakura hadn't been scared like this before. "I—"

Seeming to sense the cherry haired girl's discomfort, Naruto opened his eyes to the white walls and most importantly, the struggle in front of him. "T-te-teme… what are— you d-doing to… Sakura-ch-chan?"

Sasuke, breathing harshly and obviously disoriented, immediately let go of Sakura as they both rushed to Naruto's side. Ino regained consciousness as well and joined the two.

"You had us going there for a minute dobe… We thought you were gonna leave us." Sasuke's concern for his bestfriend was hidden by arrogance but not enough for Naruto to miss.

"Such an idiot." Ino said.

Sakura went on to Naruto's bedside. Naruto sat up to see them better and so he could comfort Sakura. "This isn't your fault Sakura-chan." Naruto's blue eyes looked her over and noticed that she hadn't a scratch on her. How was that so?

"Are _you_ alright though, Sakura-chan?"

Sakura cringed at the question. Of course she wasn't hurt, this was all her plan! But it gave her a heavy feeling in her chest, something she could only recognize as guilt. Ino looked at her warily, even though they were rivals, they were friends once… once a long time ago. Sasuke gazed at her, waiting for her to answer.

She concealed her green eyes and sighed. "Hai, I am okay. What about you, okay enough to move, Naruto?" her voice was decisive, holding resolve that until now, Sasuke's presence had taken away.

"Yeah, I am." He shifted around and swung his legs down to the floor. Naruto's bare feet felt cold once it touched the ground. "Good. I think you three might want to come with me now." Sakura's voice held lament.

They all turned to one another, silently wondering where they were going. Walking together, towards the double-sided door was like a wash of cold water. Inside the infirmary, it was bright and calming. Outside… the lights were dim— one was even broken, flickering on and off. Cold air swirled around; the shades must've made this building home.

Their eyes roamed the walls, the flat metal bridges, doors that seemed to hide so many secrets. Sakura walked ahead of them, face straight, so focused. No one dared break the silence, not that they could of course, their minds were still in awe of the whole place.

After what seemed like a while, they found themselves facing a giant door. The door in itself was different from all the other doors. It was larger and was made of sturdy wood unlike the others that were made of metal. Ornate wood engravings with faded gold edges decorated the door.

Sakura knocked slowly two times, later they'd realize it was a code. The four of them backed away when the mammoth door opened, a loud creaking resounded in the darkness. Light slowly streamed in from the room ahead.

Walking cautiously, Ino, Naruto, Sasuke, and Sakura entered the domicile. They saw that the only illumination was coming from the massive monitor showing a boy roughly their age, with brown hair and dull eyes. The boy seemed to have seen them come in from the monitor because his eyes widened. He said he would come back later, and then disappeared from the monitor. Who was he talking to?

A few other things they noticed about the room: there was a large curved table with seats spread at its sides. On the very tip of the table was a chair larger than the ones around it. It was facing the direction of the monitor so they couldn't really see who was sitting there. It looked like a briefing room.

"The light from that big a monitor is bad for your health, especially in the dark." Sakura scolded, but the lack of obvious concern and apathy was apparent.

An almost forced chuckle rebounded in the room. "Everything is always bad for my health when it comes to you Sakura." Sasuke's intuitive mind made him realize three things. One, the voice belonged to someone who was of male gender. Two, the low and weak vibration meant that the person was probably aged. Finally, three, it came from the leather chair up front.

"Next time you're gonna say I need to retire."

"It would probably increase both of our life expectancy if you did."

The leather chair creaked when it swiveled, revealing a frail looking old man. His lips were spread in a warm smile that Naruto couldn't help but smile himself. They were expecting a powerful man, as he had to be to command a place like this, not a weak old grandpa!

"I assume that these are the recruits?"

"Affirmative." The lackluster in her voice had not yet disappeared.

In a show so uncharacteristic, Sasuke couldn't hold back the irritation any longer. He couldn't take another minute of cryptic talks and secrecy when it nearly killed them all!

"Can someone already tell us what the fuck is happening here already?!" his eyes clenched shut as he shouted. His baritone voice boomed inside the room. Naruto and Ino turned to look at him, one with shock in her face, the other with concern. You could probably guess which is which.

Sakura grimaced at the young Uchiha's action but did not turn around nor even acknowledge answering his demand.

Sandaime, or Sarutobi— his real name, stopped to look at Uchiha Sasuke. Dark hair and even darker eyes, he was truly of the Uchiha lineage. His looks he got more from his mother, too bad he also inherited his father's temper.

"As brash as ever, Sasuke-san." His smile never wavered once.

Sasuke was taken aback. Why did he now suddenly feel very familiar? He could've sworn he hadn't seen the old man anywhere… Sasuke hadn't noticed it but he had become calm.

"Why don't you four seat so I can comply with Sasuke-san's request." He stood up from his own seat to usher them in to theirs. On Sasuke's way to sit down, Naruto brushed by him and asked inconspicuously; "Do you know him? He seems to know you."

"I don't…" was all he could say back.

Sarutobi stood at the back of his chair when all four of them had been seated. Sakura and Sasuke sat on one side and Naruto and Ino on another. The old man regarded them carefully, noticing every injury and bandage with alarm. He sighed, so this is what made Sakura so sad. He could fairly guess that she blamed herself for what happened.

"Hmm… Have you ever heard of the Anbu Black Ops? It—"

He was cut off by an excited Naruto. "Do I!! It is like, the only coolest group of people since… EVER!!!" by the end of his tirade, Naruto had one foot on the table and his breathing had gone shallow. Everybody has else sweatdropped. Wasn't he injured just a moment ago?!

"Sit down dobe."

"You're so stupid, Naruto."

"You'll never change, idiot."

"You three are mean." He sat down with a pout.

"I've heard of it…" Ino started "It's a government sector agency, a force stronger than the military. It's the contingency plan of the prime minister or the emperor himself in case of a coup or any class S national emergency."

"You're well informed Yamanaka-san." His grandfatherly smile pulled them in and made Ino swell with pride. He turned from them and faced the screen.

"I know what you're thinking. You think that I— we," he glanced at Sakura from his shoulder. "… are from Anbu. Technically, we are. But we're from another division called… regiment Nyx, the Battalion of the night."

"—the fuck?!"

From the smile they knew was playing on the old man's lips, the three knew that he thought they weren't taking him seriously. Well of course they wouldn't!! It's just like saying the CIA, a secret organization in itself, would have _another_ secret organization inside too. But then… what choice did they have but to believe, where they were held hostage in this facility that deliberately screwed with their asses?

Sarutobi let the new information mingle with the silence so their shocked minds could slowly grind it in. In truth, he had been keeping an eye on them ever since they were mere children, when they had first shown signs of skills not normal for others their age.

All throughout the conversation, the girl with pink hair had kept her own. He had not told Sakura then because, first and foremost, she was only a child. She was only, slowly, experiencing the transition from a normal kid to a trained spy, for a lack of better words. Everyone thought she would crack under pressure. But she was smart, that he knew, and in the end it was she showed them.

Second, Sarutobi would later admit, that it was an act of betrayal on his part. He knew that her other life, Sakura's friends and academic life, were the only things keeping her sane. He hoped he had not destroyed the girl's trust in him… This would probably be included in his long list of regrets.

The stillness had been broken first by Ino.

"… why— I mean, why the hell are we here? What do we have to do with all of this?"

"And what does Sakura have to do with all of this?"

Naruto, always the selfless one, thought of Sakura first… she might have been looking down at the marvelous marble floor and her thoughts may have been awry, but this made her cherry lips quirk up slightly.

With the knowledge that their friendship will never waver, Sakura took the initiative to stand up, and finally rid herself of all the secrets. All four eyes, glistened by the light coming form the monitor, were on her immediately.

"Maybe we should start with explaining what regiment Nyx is." In her left hand was a slim, alloy-made remote. She pointed it at the monitor and images suddenly went alive in front of them.

It was just like a nightmare, which in truth no one was spared the disaster of the events. A huge explosion, fire razed from building, to trees, to houses… to people. Men were running around, trying to escape the inferno, mothers were searching for the children they have lost along, bloody limbs spread everywhere.

Naruto's sky blue eyes hardened in realization, his face was a look of deep hatred as he turned his face from the monitor. Who could forget the fire of '93? Back then, Tokyo's economy seemed to be heading forward as it approached the new millennium. It was the middle of Japan's commerce.

Then suddenly, a tragedy occurred that threatened to collapse the whole of Japan. A fire had started at two of the major districts of Tokyo; it razed the city for a whole day and a half. By the time the fire was put out, about thousands had been left homeless, hundreds have lost loved ones and a lot more have had their lives drastically changed.

Among them was Naruto. He was still a child back then when Iruka found him besides a burning building. Debris was about to fall on him but Iruka had managed to shield him with his body.

They had gotten to the hospital relatively unharmed except for Iruka's burns. After the incident, Iruka had tried to find Naruto's parents but couldn't. It was decided that they had probably died in the fire and Naruto was lucky enough to have been brought to safety.

Since then, Naruto had lived with Iruka, treating him as a father and Iruka treating him as a son; but Naruto will never forget that one incident that had changed his life indefinitely.

"Ino, what was the cause of the fire of 93'?"

Blue eyes left the monitor and stared at Sakura's form, her brows were furrowed in concentration. "No one was really sure what happened then… Some said millennialist cults were at fault and it is true that a few of them were convicted…" doubt was hanging from her sentence.

"Right, because of the terrible depression of the people, the trial was sped up because of the desire to implicate and punish anyone concerned. It was revenge and hatred that fueled everything those times. As you would all probably know… lives were lost, destroyed. People had to build everything from scratch again."

"What are you then, some kind of relief fund?" the Uchiha had said with a scowl.

"Nice to know your sense of humor had not yet left, Sasuke-kun." Behind the insult was relief. Sasuke-kun was still Sasuke-kun. Their eyes met and he knew she meant no harm. Their minds went back to the scene back in the infirmary. Sakura and Sasuke immediately looked away from each other as blood rushed to their cheeks, an action not unnoticed by both Ino and Naruto.

Sarutobi, noticing the sudden change in atmosphere although he had no idea as to the reason why, coughed to ease the tension. Honestly, teenagers today!

Sakura returned to her explanation. "The leader had been caught and sentenced to death,… now here was a cover up. The truth is the leader wasn't the one who taught of the plan; it was another member who had a powerful hold on the cult. He instigated the cult to cause the fire in the first place." She became silent. A picture of middle-aged man wearing a white robe was shown on the screen. Her eyes hardened.

It was Naruto's turn to ask. "Ne, what's a millennialist cult?" Sakura further explained that a millennialist cult was a group of people who believed that Armageddon would come by the turn of the century and each had their own philosophy on how to prevent it or how to make their souls go to heaven.

Sasuke seemed genuinely interested. He sat forward, with his elbows propped up on the table and his hands folded underneath his chin. Now, Sasuke has always been known as cleverly quick; but as he analyzed the information, it still did not make sense. There was still information to be had.

"There's something you're not saying yet."

Sakura didn't even turn to him, fixed on the man's face. "That man was never found… but we do happen to know that that large a fire— no matter how it may seem, was created not by a bomb… but by one man."

Everyone grew silent again, serious. Sandaime noticed that the air conditioning was on too high again. Sakura would probably angry, but he was glad for the cold air passing through his nostrils. It seemed to calm him down a little.

"H-how can t-that be?" for some reason, all three of them seemed to believe that it could be done that way. Only Ino didn't seem to have any idea how.

Sakura sat down on her chair, making a soft thud as she relaxed on it. Sandaime, perhaps, would be better of to explain it. She herself didn't know much about… _what_… they were.

"As all you may have noticed, the people you have encountered today were not your average thugs."

"Just like that guy I fought." Sasuke remembered how fast he had been. Admittedly, he could not have had beaten him had he not opened his sharingan.

"Mine too…" the proof was all over Naruto's body.

"The government scientists have a name for people like them— like us… Logos… came from the Greek word _Logoi _meaning stories. According to them, we were the people long exemplified in Greek mythology such as Hercules, Achilles, Perseus and the like. They were all heroes who had mythical, god-like powers. Needless to say, they never really accepted us, going as far as saying that we were just as what they have named us… stories and myths."

"Y-you mean… we're these Logos people?!— You're crazy, that's what you are! Crazy!" her hand's slammed down the cherry wood table, a few strays of blond hair hung at the side of her face. Her blue eyes were both incredulous and mad.

"Hn…"

"Well that would explain a lot!"

"Huh?! W—what!?!"

Both Sasuke and Naruto were sitting still at their seats. One was contemplating things with calm close eyes and the other was animatedly rambling about… orange plasma and red eyes to the girl beside him, Sakura.

Ino looked around in despair. It seemed like she was the only one who did not get whatever _it _was. Resigning to the mystery of it all, she slumped back to her chair. Okay, back up a little. What exactly just happened these past few hours? First they were following Sakura down the alley… and then she disappeared and out came the Yemon gang…?!

The Yemon gang? The four… there it was now. The four were obviously a part of these Logos people. So how did they escape— even coming close to defeating all of them, although scathed?! Were they all really Logos too?!

Sasuke most likely was. God knows what he can do with just his own strength and those heavenly muscles alone. What if he had special, dare she say it, 'powers' as well!!... It only increased her admiration for him.

Freaky orange mist?! Naruto seemed to be heading to that direction as well. Ino herself saw the gaping hole on Naruto's stomach. Hadn't she also seen herself that it mended practically by itself. That qualified for mythical, god-like powers right?

"Yeah…so Sasuke-kun and Naruto probably— they are Logos! But what about me? What the hell am I doing here?!"

Four pairs of eyes turned to her— again. "Don't downplay yourself little one. Inside everyone is a power waiting to unleash itself. But don't take my word for it… You'll learn in time. In fact we have a program here for new pledges—"

"W-wait! Who says we're joining?"

Sarutobi stopped abruptly. If he had been shocked, he did not show it. Wisdom showed in his eyes, and quiet regret. Sakura stood up. "Sandaime-san, you're health is failing. You need to rest." He looked like he was about to protest but Sakura immediately rejoined, "I'll talk to them."

The old man nodded and took his leave. A few inches to the dark, he stopped. "We all have a choice." Only for Sakura's ears.

"And I make mine."

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Only four of them were left. Silence once again reigned. Sakura, still standing up and her face a stone sculpture, weighed her options around. It didn't really matter, what would happen was inevitable, destined by the gods one could say. All that was left was how to tell them.

Naruto was waving his hands in front of her. her green eyes immediately gravitated to his concerned face. She didn't even notice him come close. He was going to be a great asset for the team, a diamond in the rough.

"What's the matter Sakura-chan? Your eyes look weird." did he see the manic control in her eyes.

"Sit down Naruto. I have something to tell you all."

"Obviously…"

She had no choice. She was doing this for the world… for the person who truly cared.

Naruto was still full of boundless mirth, she almost felt sorry that she was about to do… maybe there was a way to save their friendship yet. They were looking up at her, her eyes beguiled them. Her lips arched beautifully in a sigh.

"Before I start, is there anything else you want to know?" Thankfully, they too sensed the burden and kept quiet.

"I hate to be the one to tell you all… I'm hoping you know that I had no choice but—" she was babbling, "… this is now a join-or-die situation." Her resolve was final.

The shock covering their faces were to be expected, though they each had their own way of showing it. Ino was near tears with her manicured hands pressed to her lips to choke a sob. Aghast at the thought, Naruto's face was frozen so.

Out of all them, it was Sasuke who was taking it best. His hand had clenched on the table but he sighed and removed it from sight.

"So we really have no choice?" Sasuke's reaction was nothing more than a piqued curiosity. His voice no more retained anger, his voice a cool melancholic tone. Sakura wondered, could he really be taking this so properly?... She felt wary to answer, as though he was springing a trap on her. Uchiha Sasuke was going to be a dangerous ally.

"Orders from above."

Sakura didn't expect it, but he smirked… or maybe she did. "Then we'll just have to go with it, won't we Naruto?" there was a playful edge in him. Naruto's face transfigured to joy once again. his blue eyes with mirth transfixed Sakura. "Anything for my Sakura."

The blonde girl on the other hand was startled. She stuttered when she said that if Sasuke was joining, then so was she. They could hear the indecision in her words and Ino didn't bother it disguise it.

To say she was pleased as a Cheshire cat was an understatement. It had all gone so well… she didn't expect this. That they'd agree so honestly and fast. Looking at them, Sasuke and Naruto were talking to each other animatedly with a certain cool in their behavior while Ino tried to join in the conversation, she couldn't displace the feeling…

That she had fell for it, hook, line and sinker.

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_She's coming._

Only a few seconds and he'd be hearing the heavy footsteps outside his room. He braced himself for the life that would streamline to his comfortable darkness. He'd been lying there hours on end, only taking the time to turn every once in a while.

5…4…3…2…1…

A creak rebounded in his ears amplified by the stillness of the room. His quarters were the farthest in the building. People tended to… trouble him.

He heard two heavy footsteps, another lithe and another one totally soundless, the last being the steps of a trained agent. He could sense them now just beside his mattress. His eyes were still closed.

"Nara Shikamaru! How long have you been sleeping here?!" Right on cue. The shrill voice hurt his ears. If this person wasn't a girl— okay screw that, if this person wasn't one of his _friends_, she'd be facing dire consequences.

Opting to not cross the line of fire, Shikamaru sat up on the bed. He tried to fix his unkempt hair. Even in sleep, he did not take off the ponytail tying his brown hair. He opened his eyes and blinked a few times to adjust his sight to the light.

His blurry vision cleared to an angry face mopped by pink hair and painted lips. He put a hand over the face and shoved the girl back. "You prick, your hand's dirty. Gah!"

"You're invading my breathing space." He looked behind Sakura and saw the three recruits… or members so it now seems. He noticed the smiling blonde first. Shikamaru had to admit that the girl was beautiful and it was hard to forget a face that bright. Her blue eyes regarded him at first, then scrunched her nose in disgust. Shikamaru smirked. Typical vain blonde.

Nearer Sakura was a blonde mutt hanging all over her. "Sakura-chan, I'm hu-ngry!!" How he could be hungry at his state was beyond even Shikamaru's level of capacity. He had seen him brought in and he didn't even look like he was going to survive a minute in the steel-cold table. Ah but now, it looks like he's practically brand new. Uzumaki Naruto would make an interesting subject… if Shikamaru ever do get past his loud voice.

Farthest from all of them was a guy who fitted the whole tall, dark, and handsome criteria. He leaned against the wall with his eyes shut. Uchiha Sasuke, a boy who can control the world… a not-too subtle air of coolness surrounded Sasuke that irked Shikamaru.

"Anyway, I just wanted to introduce you to Shika-mah. He's an idiot and a lazy-ass. I could do more in a second that he can do in a year…" she motioned and pointed at him comically "But then that's why he was gifted with a brain better than any computer."

"You laud me too much Sakura… A brain is really far smarter than a computer… Now, get out! I need to sleep."

"Alright, alright… yeesh!" Sakura said as Shikamaru pushed her out his room. The others naturally followed her, boisterously… or silently.

"Oh yeah, I'll be dropping by later. I need information." The last sentence was colder. It had stopped him for a while but he continued to push her out the door anyway.

"Yeah, yeah… Maybe visit the pantry, your dog's howling." Referring to Naruto. He closed the door with a slam.

He sighed. Troublesome women, Sakura was still beating herself up for the botched up mission. Other than that, well, something was bothering him. Just before they came in… Shikamaru sat down in front of his computer and got down to work, pushing the off feeling in the back of his head.

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"Shut up Naruto! We're nearly there."

All four of them were riding in metal shaft, with only a partition acting as a door. Brilliant lights flashed at them from the cold walls and from the occasional light coming from the city as seen from the sparse windows. It was deep into the night already.

The elevator came to a halt in front of a strange room. Unlike the other places they've been, this place felt familiar. Stepping into the room, Naruto started salivating. "I smell bacon!" and left in a rush.

Ino and Sasuke chuckled behind. Idiot. They followed Naruto across the room. He was already sitting in a chair, banging silver utensils on the table. "Let's eat!"

Sakura sat beside Naruto while Ino and Sasuke sat on the other side of the table. The room's ambience was ultimately better than the rest of the building. Silver chandeliers lighted the room and accentuated the metallic blue walls. Painting of different sceneries littered the room. The tables were clothed by the softest velvet red.

Ino sighed and inched towards Sasuke. The poor boy cringed and looked annoyed but didn't back off. "This place is so romantic! Now only if Sasuke and I were alone." At the mention of the last sentence, she turned her glare at Sakura and Naruto.

Naruto smirked while Sakura immersed herself at the view outside the curtained window. "It's a good thing we're here then aren't we, teme?"

"Dobe?"

"Because otherwise, Ino would be raping you right now!!"

That did it. Sasuke paled and his face blanched. He tried to pry Ino from his arms, because of this Ino fell of her chair to the marble floor. "Ow! This is your fault Naruto!"

"My fault?! Isn't it clear that the teme doesn't like you?!"

"Ye—yes he does!!"

"So he pushed you to the ground!?"

Ino blushed at Naruto's guffawing, obviously at her situation. She picked herself up from the floor. "Don't worry Sasuke-kun, I'm— huh?" Sasuke wasn't in his seat anymore… and so was Sakura.

"Hey idiot, where's Sasuke?… and more importantly, what has Sakura done to him?!" Naruto looked to his side and saw that indeed, the blossom was gone too. He sat up and started looking around for the two.

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Disgusting. The thought made his blood run cold. Even more annoying was the fact that the dobe and Ino were fighting extremely near to his ears. Damn, they were loud. Pit a blonde against a blonde and what do you get? A bitch fight louder than the monster truck derby on a Saturday. Tuning them out was the best idea he could think of.

He looked affront to the pink haired girl. Was it him or was she distant today? Normally, she'd be up to par with the two blondes when it comes to a war of the mouth and brainless… He couldn't blame her though. He had seen their incensed forms before and it was definitely nothing to laugh about.

She fluidly left her seat while the two beside them were arguing. The soft candle lights silhouetted her form. His eyes followed her lithe form going to a metal door with a round glass window, surprised that the others didn't notice her leave.

Sasuke got up to follow her, just as quietly as she had gone. Even Ino— he loath to admit, followed him better than any fangirl should, didn't notice. He caught up with her when she stopped in front of the door. She was reaching a slender hand for the door when he grabbed her wrist.

"Where do you think you're going?" His eyes locked on hers. Sakura immediately withdrew her wrist as if scalded and when she did, she saw his eyes hardened. "I'm sorry. I just had to get away from the noise."

Sasuke sighed. He didn't know why he was incensed when she took away her hand. Maybe it was just because she never did before. "It's okay… I've got to hand it to you though…" their eyes met for the first time "… you had us all fooled there thinking you were in trouble." He egged her on.

"Y-you know I—I had no choice." Her eyes wandered again. Sasuke backed her up against the wall. For the second time this day— and it's becoming quite a long one too, their nose were nearly touching.

"Did you really, Sakura?" this was nothing like what happened back at the infirmary, this was less guided by sense than by action. Sasuke had his reasons for joining… but what was Sakura's reason for them joining? He had to now.

Electric.

Sasuke took a lock of pink hair and twisted, tugging and pulling. Seduce if he must. "Sa-ku-ra." The nearness of his face forced her to look up because she couldn't resist not looking at such perfection. "I nearly got fooled there thinking you were in trouble when all along, you were the one pulling the strings." He smirked. "You're a good, lying little bitch aren't you—!"

Smack

Sasuke backed away from Sakura a little. He refused to alleviate his stinging cheek with his palm. The girl in front of him glared at him with total hostility. He was going to glare back when he saw the forming of tears just around the edges of her green eyes.

Sasuke hated it. He was no match for tears.

"Sakura I—"

Before Sasuke could continue, Naruto and Ino were with them. "Hey, what are you two—" Naruto's tone sounded leering at first, but then saw the brimming liquid clouding her eyes. "Teme, what did you do?!" Naruto was chest to chest with Sasuke.

Sasuke's jaw was set defiantly at Naruto. He would not back down. Both Naruto and him felt small hands placed on their chests. Sakura separated them from each other and smiled slightly at Naruto. "Don't jump to conclusions you idiot. I just teared up that's all... I think I might need glasses now."

"Ew Sakura… You already have a freaky forehead, we don't need to see you with four eyes!" Ino knew she was lying…

"Stupid pig… Anyway, I wanted you to meet someone." Sakura took Ino and Naruto's hands forward to the metal door she was opening before Sasuke walked in on her.

Sasuke ruffled his hair when he followed them.

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Pale white hands nimbly handled knives, pots and pans, and the like. A teenage girl was preparing meals on the double, a few bangs strayed from the genuine pearl clips she put in her hair. Hygiene was important of course.

'…I hope everyone will like this.'

"Hey Hina-chan!"

A gasp emitted from her small lips as she sliced a pear in half. Hinata whirled around and saw Sakura and three other people about the same age as them. The three had to be the important new recruits everybody seemed to be gossiping about.

They were looking at her just as she was them. Hinata was surprised to know that she recognized one of them, the dark haired one. He was Uchiha Sasuke, heir to his family's fortunes and rivalry with hers. Hinata wondered what he was doing here and if he recognized her as well. The white Hyuuga eyes were hard to forget.

The other two were blondes, one a beautiful girl and the other… a breath taking boy. Both had blue eyes but it was the boy's that held hers. She felt blood rush up her pale cheeks. Before she started swaying around Sakura had a firm hold on her shoulders. She heard a giggle erupt from the blossom.

"Relax Hinata. Their just new recruits… and hungry one's at that. So can you cook us a hefty meal. We're starved!"

Determination shone in Hinata's white eyes. "O- Of course, a-a—anything Sakura-chan."

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"Whoa! Did you get a look at her freaky eyes?! Sugoi!" Naruto was being a dobe again. If Hinata had heard that… well, Sakura didn't know how she would react, but it always led to just one thing… Thankfully, they were already seated when he spouted his mouth.

"A Hyuuga."

"How do you know Sasuke-kun?" to Ino, every word he said was practically a mandate from heaven.

"Hn." So Sakura wasn't the only one who noticed. "I saw her at a dinner party, Uchihas and Hyuugas only. Also she has the Hyuuga eyes… You are right dobe, they're freaky." He chuckled at that last one.

Half an hour later, Hinata had brought them their dinner. The trip out passed without too much incidents, just the usual. Like Ino fawning on Sasuke, the occasional banter between Naruto and Sasuke… Naruto also asked Hinata to join them, thankfully, she didn't faint when he did.

Out of the building and into the streets. Before they left the building, Sakura reminded them that anything they witnessed inside were to be kept inside. The consequences were to be dire otherwise.

The cold city air kissed their faces, head of black, pink, and blondes walked across the neon lights. Walking in pairs, with Naruto and Sakura upfront and Sasuke and Ino brought the rear, they reached the bus stop in front of Lalaport Bay.

"I guess this is where we say goodbye?" the lamplight made her face glow. She stared forward, light emitting from cars reflected in her green eyes. She sat on the single welded bench.

"What about you Sakura-chan? Aren't you going home?"

"Maybe later Naruto… I still have something to do." She shyly averted her gaze.

"Maybe I should wait for you to get off? It's not good for little ladies to roam the street alone." He teased.

"Stupid Naruto… After all that's happened, don't you think I could take care of myself better? Now squat, oh, and take Ino with you."

That said, Ino and Naruto boarded a bus, with the latter having lingering looks on both Sakura and Sasuke.

"Aren't you going?"

Green eyes looked forward to the bay.

"I need to talk to you."

Black eyes never left the glittering surface of the water.

"Look Sasuke…-kun, there really isn't anymore. Anything else would be confidential. I—"

"I'm sorry."

Sakura did a double take on that one. Her body froze awkwardly, every limb stiffened. She did not expect that. It wasn't like Sasuke was so cocky as to never ask for forgiveness when he was wrong… No, Sasuke was a better person than that, but he apologized to her?!

Maybe it was just a dream, a mirage of guilt. She looked idly at the boy from behind a wall of pink hair. He was looking at her from the side too. They both laughed at their behavior.

A few seconds later, Sakura had her arms encircling her waist. Her stomach hurt laughing.

"Are you serious?"

She wiped a tear that slipped from all the laughing.

"Yeah… I was just worried I guess. It was out of bounds for me to…pressure you like that."

He was facing her now; Sasuke was at least two heads taller than her. His black eyes looked down at her.

"… No way… If you were worried about… why d—did y-y-ou do t-that?"

He smirked. "Did what?" closer. "Sa-ku-ra?"

"THAT!!!!"

Sasuke chuckled at Sakura. She was blushing madly, her eyes filled with embarrassed anger.

"I'm sorry…again. I just had to try it, you know? Besides, admit it… I had an effect on you didn't I?"

Stupid tease! If it were possible, Sakura blushed a hundred times over! He was leaning over her, towering actually. His eyes peered hers; they could see each other reflected in the other's eyes.

Sakura smirked.

"OW!!!"

Sasuke was clutching his head in pain, half mockingly though. Sakura had bopped him hard enough when he came near enough. Let's see him try that again.

"That'll teach you to mess with me Uchiha Sasuke."

"Oh, I'm so afraid now."

"Care to repeat that, Uchiha?"

Sasuke inched away from Sakura. Whenever Sakura was mad, she had the _tendency_ to become violent. A manic glint was in her eyes with one fist raised.

Behind Sasuke was a bench, there wasn't anywhere he could run to now. Sakura kept coming, determined to murder him for all the embarrassment, worried or not.

"H—hey, stop that now. I've nowhere to— Ah!"

Sakura tripped on her own two feet and dragged the boy down with her to the bench.

"ITAI!!"

Sasuke's back covered the fall and his face was stained with pain. Sakura just laughed at what he looked like. It wasn't everyday Uchiha Sasuke falls down to the ground— bench.

That was what the bus conductor had seen when he pulled over the stop, an uncomfortable looking boy with a laughing girl on top of him. Sasuke gently pulled up Sakura away from him and successfully stood them firm. He climbed the bus's entrance, then without looking back and with a distant tone, said; "Go home safely."

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Shikamaru was still concentrated on his computer when he heard light footings outside his room. The door opened and entered a very sleepy and confused Sakura.

"Anything the matter?"

"Not really… Just something Sasuke did— Enough about that, what about the files?''

There were no lights open inside the room except for the one coming from the computer. From where Sakura stood, with eyes dead, it illuminated only half her face.

"Whatever you say… Come over here."

Light footsteps closed in on him.

And that's when he figured out what had bothered him during their earlier visit.

_He heard two heavy footsteps, another lithe and another one totally soundless, the last being the steps of a trained individual._

The soundless footsteps were not Sakura's… but the Uchiha's.

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Haha…so what was that? Sorry for not updating fast, has it been two months? Well I wrote a long chapter and was that SasuSaku fluff I saw there?! So forgive me, m'kay?

I tried making suspense there , thriller… a dash of mystery, in case you haven't noticed. Tell me what you think about it.

A friend of mine mentioned something interesting the other day. She said I make a good portrayal of Sasuke's character according to what fanfiction thinks… not the point… but of course I had to brag. But the thing is… of course all I have to work with is fiction since he barely shows up in the manga. He shoved his ass up Orochimaru's crack den!! As if that's not enough, he's such an apathetic prick, but you still can't help but love him. If YOU didn't, who would?

The last part though was totally un-Sasuke like. I don't know what happened there, but you just got to have to let the characters tell their own story I guess. Was it too much?

Oooohhhh… Sasuke's being suspicious… What the hell is up with Sasuke? What does the last part mean?

Oh yeah! My idol, angel-puppeteer is back from the dead! I dedicate this chapter to her. Hopefully, she updates.

I am accepting challenges in this new installment of one-shots. Anything at all. Just submit a theme and the pairing (if any) you want and what genre. If you want something more specific, feel free to send in descriptions as well. Really, I'll do it.


	6. Pay Attention!

Chapter 6: Pay Attention!

Masque

Summary: He's looked up, down, above, and under. The chip was nowhere to be found. "There! See that, there's a shadow over there!" "Well, there's only one place to get it back from…" The new recruits' very first mission, finding Shikamaru's chip!

Blah blah blah. Review damnit!! Fast enough? Hope you like!!

Song playing: Boston Drama by Typecast

Repeatedly play while you read.

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_That was what the bus conductor had seen when he pulled over the stop, an uncomfortable looking boy with a laughing girl on top of him. Sasuke gently pulled up Sakura away from him and successfully stood them firm. He climbed the bus's entrance, then without looking back and with a distant tone, said; "Go home safely."_

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It had all felt unreal. As if she had slept long last night and dreamed all the outrageous things she saw or like when you think of one thing too much that you start thinking it's actually real. Ino walked on the sidewalk, heading to school. It had felt real all right. Hell, the bandages may be gone but the pain was still there.

Looking dazed at her locker, she felt herself finally give up. She took her school shoes and put in on. A few younger students passed by and greeted her a good morning but she didn't even hear them. She also missed the wondering looks in their eyes. Usually she would greet them with a cheery voice being the perfect sempai that she was.

Ino made her way to homeroom. A few boys were fooling around atop desks, throwing paper balls around each other. She dropped her books on her chair and saw a few pink. Sakura was there too, her head was slumped on her arms. She was sleeping.

'Well… It's now or never.'

"Hey, Sakura!"

The girl lifted her head up and looked for the person who called her name. She met gazes with Ino for a second. Ino smiled. Sakura definitely looked like she had just woken up, her eyes bloodshot and her hair a mess.

"If you keep that disgruntled look about, time will come that Sasuke-kun will personally come to me just to get away from you."

Sakura's face fell for a moment, only for a second, but went back to being bored. Huh, she looks like that geek from last night. What was it, Shikaruma? No. Shikamaru? Right.

"Don't even joke like that Ino-pig. You're making me lose my breakfast."

Ino was sitting beside Sakura, their eyes held front to the blackboard. Both stayed silent until Sakura spoke in a hushed tone.

"No matter what Ino-pig, you have to follow instructions. The moment you joined Nyx, you lost the ability to decide for yourself… Look out for yourself; there aren't too many good people in jobs like ours."

Ino blinked, trying not to meet Sakura's gaze, not that she was looking. Her eyes had turned bleary, but willed it all away. She just couldn't believe why this happened. Ino faced Sakura now.

"At least you're with me, Sakura-chan."

Was it her imagination or did Sakura cringe. It was barely a movement; it could be her imagination still. Then again, nothing that has happened since yesterday seemed real anymore, which put her back to square one of her track of thoughts.

"Hey, Sakura?"

"Yeah?"

Ino sighed, just in time to see Sasuke and Naruto enter the room. Half the room, which was all female of course, sucked in their breath. Only Sasuke was really worth looking at, but the contrast between the two star player's features were just so overwhelming, it seemed to enhance Sasuke's appearance more. Plus, Naruto wasn't really all that unappealing. In fact, some girls actually harbored a secret crush on the boy.

Ino dazed out of it when Sakura snapped her fingers in front of Ino's face.

"Earth to Ino-pig, you were saying something?"

The blonde girl frowned. Sakura had been cold to her just a few minutes before, but now she was almost happy, but not quite. Ino knew she was pretending though. But why?

"Nothing forehead-girl."

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Gym again. This time, they were outside the building and the sun shone brightly in mid day. The trees' branches were lined up with birds, one seemingly looking at them.

"All right! Line-up one by one children!"

Sasuke, slightly irritated, sat beneath the same tree where Sakura was sitting before the big game last week. How did he know? He just did. Some things just couldn't be explained, that and the tree bark looked like it had been clawed at. Something Sakura did when she was nervous. The school really should charge her for ruining property, if she wasn't friends with him of course.

As the others were lining up, he looked up to the sky. His eyes looked somber, for once. Not angry, not indifferent, something in between, or perhaps more. This was the first time he had ever felt some kind of hope. Him joining the Nyx regiment may have been planned by someone else, but he'll turn it around. Right now, Sasuke's never felt closer to finding his brother since the time he left.

As he sat underneath the shade of the tree, green eyes looked on with worry.

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"Oh yeah! It's lunch time, my favorite time of the day!!"

Blonde spiky hair.

"Not dismissal?"

Tamed pink hair.

"No way, there's no food in dismissal."

Tan hands reached for a plate of pizza.

"What about after dismissal?"

Delicate hands reached for a slice of strawberry shortcake.

"Touché Sakura, touché."

A warm foxy smile.

"You're insatiable Naruto."

A chuckle from painted lips.

They heard other students discussing last period's quiz or a geometry project due next week as they ghosted over other tables to one that was a empty. Sakura and Naruto planted their plastic trays on the table, a few bits and pieces sloshed over. Both sat down at the same time.

"So where's Sasuke?" Sakura asked casually while savoring a bite of the cake. A satisfied sound came from her mouth, silent only. She couldn't help it; the cake was moist and creamy, not too sweet. Maybe when this would all blow over, she'd pursue culinary arts, pastry only though.

Naruto still hadn't answered her. Because he didn't know or he didn't want to, she'd never know now. His mouth was far too stuffed with pizza to work properly anyway. She reached for a red shiny apple but before she could take a bite, it had rolled of her grasp.

Her body turned sideways from the table to see the apple roll fluidly on the floor. That was until it rolled up a shoe and someone's leg. Following it up, she saw it resting safely between two pale hands.

She smiled and looked up to thank the person and take the apple. Green eyes met black. "Sasuke-kun…"

Sasuke took the seat next to Sakura's and bit on the apple. Sakura's eyes twitched. "Hey, that was mine!!" she yelled as she childishly pounded her fists on his shoulder. Sasuke continued to eat it though.

"I don't see your name on it. Besides, I believe it rolled on the floor to me. I think it wanted me to eat it, don't you think so?"

He raised an eyebrow in semblance with the mock question.

"It rolled on the floor because I dropped it."

She stuck out his tongue.

"So where's your _girlfriend_ Sasuke?" Naruto asked him, accentuating it with a few jabs of his plastic fork, a few noodle strands and sauce flew to Sasuke's face.

With dignity, when there probably shouldn't be at the moment, Sasuke flicked a strand of ramen back to Naruto. "Dobe." Naruto opened his mouth to swallow the piece. Sasuke's eye twitched. "You're disgusting, you know that?"

Sakura tried to stifle a laugh, but Sasuke noticed none the less. He glared his black eyes at her.

Right on cue, Ino bounded towards them carrying her own tray of food. Plopping it down beside Naruto's, a few leafy salad bits fell. "Sorry I was late, I just had Biology and Koyuki nearly fell down the window dusting the erasers!"

Sakura and Naruto wondered at Ino. Really weirded out about this, she didn't normally sit with them. She usually sat with her girly, cheerleader posse, discussing nail polish and what not. The two exchanged glances.

Sasuke bit off the apple, not really paying attention to anything, just staring off ahead. A rhythmic sound echoed across the cafeteria, all the occupants strained to listen to the voice of the principal's secretary.

"_KKKKrrrrrzzzz…"_

"Will Haruno Sakura, Uchiha Sasuke, Uzumaki Naruto, and Yamanaka Ino please go to the ivory fountain just outside the teacher's parking lot? The principal asked you to pick up something for her."

"Oink!"

"NNOOO!! Come back—"

"_KKKKrrrrrzzzz…"_

All the students looked up dumbfounded. Some looked to the four's table, other's continued eating, while other nosy students tried to make sense of the announcement.

"Okay… What the hell was that?" Naruto asked in-between slurping ramen and cramming pizza down his mouth.

Sakura sighed and put down her fork. Such timing. She really liked her cake too. "What do you think it is?" she asked sarcastically.

Sakura stood up. Sasuke was beginning to. Ino got the gist of it. Naruto sat there dumbly.

"Well stand up dobe. We have a mission."

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The flustered strategists rushed about. Flying paper and random files that cluttered the swirled marble floor couldn't be helped but noticed. Ino sat on a metal chair, her head following the agitated agents. She herself was beginning to get faint watching them.

Sakura, having just entered, stood beside the electric sliding doors. She stood in her tippy-toes and strained her neck to look for a familiar pineapple-head. It was pretty hard to find him among the disheveled strategists and scientists running amuck. Just like a genius pin in an intelligent haystack.

Finally, she found him, over there, in the middle of a group of people. Shikamaru was wide awake now, rarely looking flustered, he instructed the agents around him. They in turn, hung on his every word.

After they've left, Shikamaru's eyes searched the room. He met Sakura's, and she knew he was tired. Shikamaru turned for his room with Sakura following. Sasuke, Naruto, and Ino followed suit.

"What the hell is happening here?"

Shikamaru didn't reply. His steady pace eventually led them to his quarters. He sat on his bed, his hands on his face. The light was turned off but the room was sufficiently lit by all the computer monitors.

It reflected despair. This shouldn't be happening, Sakura thought, or if it should, not in Shikamaru's department! She stood in front of Shikamaru's form.

"…Shika?"

The young genius held a sleek silver remote in hand. Using his thumb digit, he pressed a soft silicon button and all the monitors screamed blank. Only one particularly large monitor showed what had happened.

It showed the room they were currently on.

"I don't get—"

"Shut up and watch."

Sakura was a little put out that Shikamaru had rudely interrupted her, but said nothing nonetheless. Then, in monochrome, a shadowy figure entered the room. Collective gasps reverberated.

The pale movement solidified to a definite male figure. Shikamaru didn't bother to look at it; he already knew what would happen. This figure, for it did not leave any distinguishable features, crept in room. He knelt down beside the bed, then to the computers although he didn't seem to have tampered with any. He was looking for something.

A few minutes later, he was standing directly in front of the camera, and then vanished as if he was never there.

"So you want us to find that person and take whatever it is that he took, right?" Naruto voiced out, a slight bounce in his tenor. He was positively ecstatic to embark on a mission.

"Actually, we've already caught the guy. The name is Kouhei Yokohama—" he passed around a clipboard with the man's information.

"Yokohama as in the city in Honshu? Weird." Sakura inquired while looking at the man's files.

"He has a family there… and another two back in Ageo and Abiko apparently." Ino quipped.

"There is a bounty on his head." Sasuke ingrained each information in his mind.

"…He's already caught…." Naruto whined. Too bad.

Shikamaru sat up from the bed and went to his computer port and typed away at a few keys. The video from the camera disappeared and was replaced by a close-up of an agent wearing huge rimmed glasses.

"Did you find it anywhere near him?"

"Negative."

The guy looked like he was inside a white interrogation room. No other colors, just white, pure blanche white. Behind him was Yokohama, bound in fiber optic ropes and garbed in a white robe.

"Have you found out where he took _it_?" The other four's ears perked up at the ominous _it_.

"Where a petty thief would usually sell an electronic device he has no knowledge of… Akihabara of course!"

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Now she was the one ecstatic. All of her worries had vanished completely with this one opportunity. Her and Sasuke-kun! What a perfect day, simply a perfect day!

"_Uchiha Sasuke and Yamanaka Ino, you two will go to Akihabara and retrieve the chips before someone else gets it. Be back within the day."_

_Those were the orders. Naruto was livid; he wanted to do the mission! Sakura was miffed, obviously not happy with their errand… or the pairing. Shikamaru explained what the chip was._

"_This chip— the Nyx Moirae, is divided into three parts: Clotho, a list of possible candidates; Lachesis, a list of current agents and their up-to-date status; and then Atropos, the list of… deceased Nyx agents… The three can be joined together like a puzzle. One can't run without the others."_

It looked like Shikamaru was right, the chips were in Akihabara. Sasuke and Ino jostled their way through the wave of consumers looking for bargain electronic appliances.

Ino rubbed her hands together. It was colder than she thought it would be. Here she was, wearing designer clothes that were getting dirtier by the second. That didn't matter though, as long as Sasuke was with her. Ino remembered the way Sakura looked when they said that she and Sasuke were to go together. It brought a sinister smile to her.

She looked ahead to boy that was leading the way. His spiky black hair was all she could see. His muscled built was covered by a dark blue coat that swayed as he moved. Determination was obvious in his gait.

Sasuke turned left; Ino nearly missed him and lost her way, and went inside a rickety old antique shop. Its walls were a dull red, the result of fog, and the windows showed clutters of old wooden furniture. All of them looked Asian and from before the 16th century in the least. The building nearly looked as old as the items it sells.

Ino entered the door and recognized the sound of chimes. Sasuke was leaning over the counter and talking to an old lady dressed in a pink formal kimono. Her hair was silvery white but that only showed wisdom, not old age. Her stature was sure, if it had not been for the friendly smile, she would have looked formidable.

"I think I have exactly what you need Sasuke-san." She said before she entered a dark hallway, only strung beads hung as a partition to the other room. She came out with a small golden Buddha in her aging but graceful hands. It wasn't the Buddhist type of Buddha, the lean and robed one. This was a fat, round one. It was lying down on its side and using its right arm to steady itself. Even from afar, Ino could clearly see that this was made of real, refined gold. A very good price it would fetch, no doubt.

"What are you going to do with it Sasuke-kun?"

Honestly, what would Sasuke need a golden Buddha figurine for? Oh no, was Sasuke secretly a collector of weird religious Asian items and she had just mocked him?! When he obviously meant to share it with her!!

"Oh my Kami-sama, I'm so sorry Sasuke-kun! I didn't know you loved them so much. I didn't mean anything by it… You can go buy some more if you want, I'll help you carry them—" she was beginning to see her and Sasuke happily shopping for giant Buddha statues to fill their would be home as husband and wife.

"What are you talking about?" he looked confused, an interesting feat to make him even show emotion.

Silence passed. Knowledge dawned on the blonde girl.

"…Oooohhhhh… Nothing!" she chirped.

"Hn." Sasuke turned his back to her again. He took the statue and examined it against the light. Just like a true connoisseur. He didn't exchange any more words with the old lady and paid for the item.

Ino and Sasuke left the store, the Buddha carefully hidden in a box inside a paper bag. They continued their way around with Ino trailing a few strides behind Sasuke. She was still at a loss as to what the statue was really for.

"Hey, Sasuke-kun…" her voice trailed.

"You'll see…" Sasuke said through sea of voices made by the other people around them. He shouldn't have bothered, Ino would still have heard. Sasuke's voice was just so different, thicker yet more melodious than the others. When you hear it, you get the impression that he was telling you one thing but it really means something else.

Sasuke stopped abruptly and Ino crashed to his hard lean back. "Ow…" she rubbed her head with a glove encased hand. Ino backed away a little, just to see the boy in front of her properly. Was he okay? Why had she suddenly stopped?

Gazing forward… beyond Sasuke, in front of them was a huge palace-like structure. Its walls were bright red. The roof was green and tiered beautifully, as if a master craftsman worked on it with heavenly hands, it was supported by gigantic columns which upon were carved dragons with flashing eyes and tigers with bared fangs. There were no windows, only the large wooden door they were standing in front of presented an entrance.

Ino noticed that they were standing near it closer than any of the other people were. In fact some of them were looking at them warily. Had Sasuke intended to come here? It seemed so because he moved forward with an arm held towards the door, the paper bag carried by his other arm.

Ino didn't think at all, she just followed.

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Unknown to Sasuke and Ino, they had been followed ever since they stepped foot inside the district of Akihabara. Two agents dressed in dramatic trench coats and tinted black shades. They would have been covert had not one of them stumbled down on his own two feet.

"Naruto!" the girl with him hissed.

A few tucked pink hairs loosed from the felt hat they were bound in.

"Sorry Sakura-chan."

Large hands ruffled through untidy blonde hair, an apologetic smile spread across his face.

Sakura reached out a hand to help Naruto up. The minute the control officer said that Sasuke and Ino were going on a mission TOGETHER, why, she was furious! She tried to tell herself that this was because she was worried. This assignment probably entailed more action than haggling over a chip.

With Naruto back up, they followed Sasuke and Ino into an antique shop. Sakura pulled Naruto into the shop's opposite building, a kitchen appliance retailer, and pretended to look at the secondhand microwaves and ovens.

She knew that it was against rules to follow on missions without permission. At first she had wanted to go because Sasuke and Ino was handed the mission. She had refused to acknowledge that what she felt was jealousy, such a foreign expression to her. Sakura had never in a million years imagined that one of her bestfriends, Sasuke, and her bestfriend from the past, Ino, would have this kind of connection with each other.

Perhaps the feelings she thought she could have for Sasuke should be best left forgotten.

_After the controller, sometimes the Sandaime himself but this time a lower agent, briefed them for the mission; Sakura and Naruto headed back to Shikamaru's quarters along with the genius himself. By then, the agents had dwindled down to the usual scientists in the department, most of them glued back to their modems or personal laboratories._

"_It's not fair! Why does the teme get to have a mission?! I'm clearly better than him!"_

_Shikamaru snorted and looked to Sakura. "Does he usually have delusional fits like this Haruno?"_

"_Not more than you get up of your bed, Nara…" Sakura smirked. "Now enough of these last names, I want to know why Akihabara?" Sakura sat on a revolving chair._

"_Simple, Akihabara is Japan's emporium for Japanese-made electronic goods. It's the only place Yokohama will sell it."_

_Somehow, that didn't sound right. "Who hired him? He seems to be smart enough— extremely talented in-fact, to just go and sell it somewhere cheap and double-cross someone who would pay him a damn whole lot more?!"_

_Shikamaru nodded. What she said made sense. He had long ago accepted that this was probably a trap. When Yokohama was admitted to the interrogation room, no amount of torture could make him omit the name of his employer; but when asked where he kept the chip, he sang like a bird!_

_The chair banged to the side of the wall. Sakura had stood up in instantaneous recognition. "No…" She accused in a whisper. Shikamaru looked away when Sakura approached him. Naruto stood to the side, knowing Sakura enough that this was serious. "You let them get sent there knowing it was a trap?" Sakura grabbed him by the collar_

"_Of course not!" Shikamaru lifted her hands of off him by force. "I thought it was a trap… but the more I think about it, I'm starting to think that this was just a show. Someone wanted that chip where it is now, and made sure a recruit would come and get it. That's why it is in Akihabara, an easy place to go to. It's safe to say that they will not be harmed."_

_Sakura loosened her hands around Shikamaru. That did make sense… but why Sasuke and Ino—?! Of course… Someone was obviously interested in Sasuke, the Uchiha heir, but why like this? She knew even Shikamaru hadn't figured it out._

"_Well… Naruto, we'll have to go to Akihabara now, won't we?" Sakura said with a sly smile.  
_

"_To keep the teme and Ino safe." Naruto joined._

"Hey, look! They're walking away!"

Sakura looked up from her reverie and saw that the two departed together, the sound of chimes clearly rang in the area despite the noise… or maybe that was just her imagination.

Naruto and Sakura followed the two with more ease this time. They stayed at least five people away from them, enough not to be sensed but enough not to lose them. They dodged left and right, avoiding human traffic along the way, determined not to lose them.

Each step seemed to weigh heavier and heavier into Sakura's mind. Questions swirled around her in torrents she could nearly sift her hand through. Whos and whys dimmed her vision to only them and only the two in front of them.

Stopping suddenly, they were in front of a castle-like structure. Weird, she thought, she didn't remember this place anywhere. _'Must not have run through this place in a long while.' _

But even from the mere structure, it was obvious what this citadel was. The opulence of the tiered roof and the majesty of its huge walls represented both power and money. It was father north of Akihabara and its appearance of being near public access yet seemingly shy from it tinkered at the cog works of Sakura's mind.

No doubt that this was the den of a drug lord.

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A servant wearing a traditional black kimono opened the door for Sasuke and Ino. The man, for the servant was a man, stood in front of the door and wordlessly barred them the way. He met Sasuke's eyes, and silently asked him what his business was there. Sasuke raised to attention the paper bag. The servant nodded. He let them in and closed the door, keeping everyone on each side in their place.

Light vanished after the door had been closed. Only through the small candles strapped to the wall did he see that they were in a narrow hallway, leading where, he was not sure.

He felt Ino inch closer to him again. She was eyeing the servant warily, then to the candles that emitted a soft, ember glow. She was scared, he knew, but she shouldn't be. He wasn't going to let anything happen to her. Their footsteps echoed.

"What are we doing here, Sasuke-kun?'' Ino strained closer to him just to whisper. "Where are we?"

Sasuke looked at her from the corner of his eyes, judging if it would be best to tell her the danger they were in. "We're in a drug den, so just don't be surprised later.

Ino's eyes widened then turned thoughtful. She appreciated it that he at least told her. She knew Sasuke could take care of everything; he didn't need to tell her.

The servant walked ahead of them, leading the way through the dark maze, and in the same manner Sasuke and Ino followed. Focusing ahead, Sasuke estimated how much the drug lord here earned out of destroying pathetic idiots' lives. A packet of marijuana cost as much as a month's pay or more these days. Even by the mere opulence of the patterned walls told Sasuke that droves of moron's wasted their life on getting doped. Disgusting.

Ahead, a glaring light increased in intensity as they walked nearer. The servant, Sasuke, and Ino approached the light and emerged outside a splendid square.

"Oh…" Ino moaned. Her right hand lifted to her eyes, shielding herself from the glare of the afternoon sun. The obscurity back at the hallway had disoriented her eyes; she could only guess that Sasuke was wincing because of the sun.

"Oh? What do we have here Daiki?" a squeaky voice rumbled from under a tree. A well-rounded man sat under the shade of a bounteous maple tree. The man was bald and his portly figure was not hid by an open-chested, colorful robe. That did not repulse the two alluring courtesans by his side; their arms were even in-fact, entwined with his.

A slimy smile appeared on his stout face, baring teeth. Daiki the servant announced that the two guests brought a gift for him. His face instantly lit up and motioned for Sasuke to come closer.

Sasuke left Ino beside Daiki, he had a feeling he was a moral and upright man. He wasn't going to do anything to her unless he screwed anything up. So with a fake smile and the hope that he won't recognize him, Sasuke walked forward to danger.

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And I think I'm leaving it at that. Oh no! Cliffhanger, haha! No don't kill me. Well, it just seemed like it had to end there. The last line seemed ideal enough. Don't worry though, I've got the next chapter all planned out, so it'll finish easier. As long as you people review. This chapter is shorter than the last.

As to the plotline… I've got to say to all writers out there, have you ever experienced anything like this? That experience where you write and the characters just reveal themselves to you? There is a part here that shouldn't have happened, but Sasuke wanted it to so it did, and changed my whole original plot for the chapter. Let's see if anyone can guess what that instance was!

Also, if you WERE paying attention, did anyone notice that scene in the cafeteria? Haha, sorry, I just couldn't resist putting that there. I am going to see the movie when it releases. Who here will?

Review!! Review!!... Aren't you just loving the new FFnet layout?

Add me to your friendster? (frustrated13_)... Thanks

Please read and review. Thank you.


	7. Save You

Chapter 7: Save You

Masque

I don't really have any comments. I just wanted to post this right away because I felt sorry that I withheld this story in such a long time. Plus I really, really wanted to write this part for the last chapter but the cliffhanger took hold at the last minute. So there. If you did not review at the last chapter, please review now.

Anyone knows any sites where I can download books? Hehe… my illegal addiction?

Why is there a song playing? I try to put the right songs for the right chapter. It's hard, but I think it's nice to know what the characters are feeling through the songs. Maximum experience, plus its good for ambience. I'll be putting up the same for other chapters before. So look back to know what the wonderful songs are.

Also, please read my other story "Teardrops in Summer." I've updated, and it has more of the SasuSaku fluff you've been looking for. Review… As for "It's My Pleasure," I still need more reviews to continue the ShinoHina story. Fireflies part 2. So if anyone liked that story, review, so you can know what happens next.

Right now, all I have to my name is the air I breathe, and that's free.

Song Playing: Save You by Simple Plan

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_Sasuke left Ino beside Daiki, he had a feeling he was a moral and upright man. He wasn't going to do anything to her unless he screwed anything up. So with a fake smile and the hope that he won't recognize him, Sasuke walked forward to danger._

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Sakura and Naruto stood outside of the drug den until they were sure that no other civilian were in sight. Both had gotten rid of the overbearing coats and tinted glasses. That unfortunately, had been replaced by white overalls and black, fingerless gloves.

Both gulped before Sakura knocked on the door. They waited a few seconds but the door refused to unbolt. They both peered at each to each other before knocking again, this time it was Naruto.

Hearing footsteps both had backed away from the door and waited to see its interior. Slowly, the door stood ajar and out came a man of average height, with dark hair but showing a few tufts of white, wearing a black kimono. He stood proud and upright.

"What is your business here?" his voice was gravely with time.

Naruto smiled cheerily and introduced himself as a chimney sweep. He expertly paraded his "chimney sweeping" skills along with the lines; "We'll clean your sweeps no matter how high or low they are, we'll chimney them!"

Sakura muttered an incomprehensible 'idiot' under her breath.

The man looked at them warily. In a snippy voice, "Do we look like we have chimneys too you?"

Sakura looked up. There were no chimneys! Stupid Naruto and his stupid plans!!

The man was about to close the door on them when Naruto barred the door with an incredibly strong arm. Naruto smiled smugly at him. "It looks like you don't understand our procedures old man."

Sakura stepped forward, Naruto opened the door wide (unhinged the door actually), and both entered the premises.

"We don't take no for an answer."

The man widened his eyes, and the vision of an upcoming fist was what he last saw until he opened his eyes to a dark cell.

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"Did you really have to break his neck? Geez Naruto… This is gruesome." Sakura examined the body of the large man they had encountered along the hall.

"What?! I didn't break his neck Sakura-chan, I just dislocated him in a few places so he can't hurt you." Even through all that, he smiled. At least he still did. Sakura wondered when it would all be too much.

Sakura stood up and hugged Naruto, locking her elbows behind his neck. The blonde boy's face heated up. "Sa-Sakura-chan!!"

She withdrew and let him breathe again. "You're sweet Naruto, don't loose your smile for me please."

Naruto didn't know what the last part meant, not that he would since he didn't hear anything after she said that he was sweet.

"I knew it!!"

"What did you know?" Sakura looked back at him.

"You love me more than the teme!!"

It was Sakura's turn to redden for reasons that were hers. First, she didn't know her 'previous' crush for Sasuke was that obvious. Another was that he thought of Naruto as a brother, of course she should love him better… but they were both her bestfriends, she couldn't have a favorite, not that her love for them wasn't balanced.

One crush. One brother. Two bestfriends.

Great.

Sakura sighed at Naruto's antics. "Just come on Naruto."

The next few moments were spent in quiet darkness. Sakura led the way, though she herself did not know where to go. She pressed her right palm along the walls as she went straight so she wouldn't get lost.

Under the softness of her hands, she noticed that the walls were engraved with round swirls. They were common in structures made by the Kane family. They were a family almost of nobility, owning an enormous enterprise of lumber and construction materials. It wasn't prestigious enough to undertake the Uchiha and Hyuuga family, who were friends of the emperor of Japan, which is why they suspected that the Kane family had started an illegal black market to gain more power in the underworld. Who would have thought they were making a drug den too.

Up ahead, they could finally see a source of light. "Sakura-chan…" Naruto tapped her on the shoulder. Sakura looked back, then ahead, because Naruto ran past her, going for the light.

"Naruto— wait!!"

Her words were wasted, she knew, the moment that they stepped into the light.

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Jiro Kane. The man can be summed up in three words: fat, useless, and stupid. He was the second son of Hideo Kane, the sole founder of the Kane Prestige. Unlike the younger Kane, Hideo was a hard-working man. Ambitious and ruthless was he, never wasting a day of work even for his family. He built his company to what it is now.

Now that he is… expiring, he is training his sons to handle the company. Kyuichi Kane, his first son, was much more like his father than Jiro Kane could ever hope in his dreams. There was no wonder in anyone's minds that he was going to be picked as the successor. That is why the second son was delegated to small businesses like these drug dens to keep him out of the way.

And yet, he couldn't even keep an operation like this undisclosed.

Now the man, Sasuke knew, was extremely religious. He made offerings to any shrine he saw. Sasuke scoffed inwardly, he was of course going to need all the help he could get, be it mortally or of divine reassurance.

The golden Buddha Sasuke bought at the antique shop was going to be their bargaining chip, excuse the pun.

He knew that the missing chip would have come to only one place in Akihabara. The man who stole the chip, Yokohama, didn't sell the chip on impulse; he was ordered to bring it to the Kane drug den.

Sasuke kneeled in front of Kane, repulsed that he had to bow to such a lowly man. Jiro looked at him with interest and much more so at the bag Sasuke had in hand.

"Come here boy, I don't bite."

Sasuke groaned inwardly. Kami, don't tell me he's a pedophile to?

With a fake smile, Sasuke inquired about an item that was brought to their manor this morning.

"That… thing? Why yes, there was a parcel brought here by a grungy looking man this morning. Daiki," he looked back at the servant, "brought him to my attention this morning. He was half-desperate, looking for the entire world as if the hound dogs of hell were after him! Ha!" during his speech, his arms had risen to the air, exaggerating every word.

With a sly look at Sasuke, "He begged us to take the parcel, and I of course being the merciful man that I am, accepted… He named his price of course, but being at a near loss, he couldn't even put up a decent price. He knew his cost was loss."

Acting, Sasuke thought, this Yokohama guy was starting to look better in Sasuke's eyes.

"Little boy, what would you want to do with the useless thing. Not that I would give it to you anyway… unless the right _offer_ came along."

Sasuke cringed and he was sure that Ino, behind him, did too. The servant, Daiki, had already left before.

"What exactly did the man tell you it was Kane-dono?"

The man laughed, and whispered to one of his escorts. Both left with an air of grace and returned a few minutes later. One was carrying a lacquer box designed with cherry blossoms on them. It was small and just as big as a small girl's palm.

Kane opened the box and inside was a satin cloth. He unfolded it gently while the box was set upon his lap. It was clear that he was trembling with excitement, as if wanting the world to know that _he_ had whatever it was.

Atop the white satin was a small item, only the size of a grape. It was a metallic blue inlaid with golden wirings, obviously circuitry. There were a few golden swirls surrounding the chip, it was like hardened gold, only it did not seem to belong to the item, or at least not to his heightened eyes.

"Do you know what this is, boy?" he did not wait for Sasuke to answer. "This is a sacred icon blessed by the chief priest of the main temple of Buddha in Nepal!" He grinned.

Sasuke looked at him. Man, was he deluding himself. He really was desperate, an erroneous characteristic that could easily be manipulated.

"Such a smart man for taking it, you are, Kane-dono."

"Of course I am!" he boasted.

"Well, may I make a proposition then? What if instead of that… relic," Sasuke pointed at the 'icon' "you could have this…" Sasuke brought out the statue with one hand and held it out to the portly man.

Kane was obviously impressed. His eyes gleamed as the gold did. His mouth stood agape at the rarity in front of him. "I— it's—!!"

Sasuke smirked. The man was so gullible Sasuke snared him easily. "You are right. This _is _the effigy built by the direct protégé of Buddha and blessed by the great man himself… It is something of far better value than that relic."

Kane made a move for the Buddha statue, shoving his heavy hands forward, only that Sasuke kept it away from his reach. Kane looked at Sasuke, as if for the first time, realizing the ingenuity in the boy's mind, stepped back and weighed his dilemma. "What do you want for it?"

The young boy, so sure of himself, fixed his eyes on the minute item.

Deducing Sasuke's intentions, Kane's eyes alternated from the 'icon' to the golden statue, beads of sweat descended down his bald head.

"Have you chosen Kane-dono?" smugness coated Sasuke's inquiry where before there was reverence. His choice, Sasuke knew where lie. He would make sure of it; he'd stretch out any lie or truth.

Kane looked at Sasuke through half-lidded eyes, his head still tilted down to the treasures. If only there was a way to keep them both…

"Naruto— wait!!"

Heads snapped back and tilted to the direction of the voice. Sasuke's eyes had widened then gave out a calculative glint. His jaw tightened, with his teeth mashing together painfully. His fists clenched while the statue was held by his other hand firmly. Why now of all times!?

Ino wisely left to Sasuke's side when he heard the familiar voice. She saw a head of blonde only a shade darker than hers. Why does Naruto have to be so stupid? His blue eyes seemed to get brighter and clearer as he bounded towards them.

"Teme—!!"

Two burly guards blocked Naruto's way and, when he struggled to reach Sasuke and Ino, the two struck him on the chest. Naruto sprawled down to the dusty ground. He let out a pained sound when his back hit the hard earth.

The two consorts who were beside Kane a moment ago had, almost as if out of nowhere, stood either side of Ino and Sasuke. Their faces were devoid of emotion, so cold and mechanical in movement, in their hands were kunais coated with unwashed blood. It made them rusty yet added terribleness in itself.

Sasuke wondered where that other person was, Naruto couldn't have had come there by himself. The dobe wouldn't even know where to look. Besides, he had heard the familiar resonance of her voice just before. His eyes were directed towards the shadowy breach.

When she did come out of dark hallway, an emotion ghosted over Sasuke's eyes. Was he glad or distraught? Thinking it over, he knew that this wasn't a good situation and her appearing would be another inconvenience in an already overflowing pile of trouble.

"Do you know these brats… Uchiha-dono?"

"—?!" This time, Sasuke's shock couldn't be helped but be betrayed by his eyes. How did he know, he asked himself. He had been so careful not to reveal his identity, and was so sure that this stupid man was oblivious.

Clearly, he was not. The one who was thought to be so incompetent, the younger Kane, did not need anymore religious items. He had for himself, the Uchiha Sasuke, son of the most powerful man in the economic world.

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Needless to say, nothing else could be said to plant the seed of doubt in Kane's mind. As Tom Clancy would have said, the jig is up. The four were taken to the basement where waiting for them was a damp cell. It was empty but they guessed that so many had already come and gone.

Sasuke sighed in dismay for his foiled plan, though he was not the least distraught. Trust the dobe to ruin everything and anything.

Ino, beside Sasuke, did not know whether to be scared or annoyed by the situation. The presence of the others surely lessened her tension.

In a corner, all alone, Naruto sulked, as if a child to think about his actions. He really shouldn't have acted brashly as Sakura always says.

Said girl sat near the metallic cold bars, a dainty hand wrapped around a cylindrical steel. Now she truly was not the least scared. She herself had come out of circumstances less agreeable than this. Compared to her other missions, this was a piece of cake, a stroll in the park.

Sakura was impressed by Sasuke's plan, would have worked too had Naruto not interrupted.

'_What do you mean Naruto? You were the one who was shouting at the top of her lungs!'_

The pink haired girl sighed, another visit from her favorite companion. Sarcasm paled in comparison to the vile poison she felt when she thought that this was surely the highlight of her day.

'He was already running outside. Nothing would have mattered; Sasuke's plan still would have failed without me.'

'_Yeah, but just look at him. He's clearly worried for your safety!'_

At this Sakura scoffed. Sasuke was not worried, Sasuke probably didn't know the meaning of the word.

"_Yeah… I was just worried I guess. It was out of bounds for me to…pressure you like that."_

_He was facing her now; Sasuke was at least two heads taller than her. His black eyes looked down at her._

"Oh…" 'Well, maybe he does, but he is NOT worried about me now…' Sakura took a sideways glance at Sasuke. He was sitting still, with lids closed, for the entire world looking as if resting on his comfy bed. Surely this was not the look of a boy who was _worried_?!

As for Sakura, she knew that this would end peacefully. Well, sort of. There would be a couple of maiming in the future, rest assured.

"Well you're unnaturally unperturbed for a prisoner Sakura." Ino had left her stupor and gazed at Sakura with her almost listless blue eyes. She had wondered why she had her head between her knees while Sakura was calm.

Then with that cool expression that never seems to resurface Sakura's face unless it involves Nyx, she looked at the blonde with pity being pushed down her throat. "I've had experience." Sakura stood up and dusted her pants nonchalantly. She faced opposite the metal bars and smirked. "And I also happen to know that a team led by Nara is heading down here in,"

"3…," Sasuke pulled Ino from the wall.

"2…," Naruto scurried near Sakura's feet.

"1…—!!"

BLAG!!

Rubble showed after the cloud of dust cleared up. Debris of bricks and stones lay on the floor; the wall had been knocked down!

Sakura stood at one side along with the others, beside her, Ino was coughing away because of the smoke. Out of reflex, Sasuke assumed a fighting reflex while Naruto was still on the floor.

"That was dumb…" the dark cell was lit up by the yawning hole in the wall, light gushed from outside it. Back-lit in such a way was the figure of a young boy, nothing more than a teenager, with his hands crossed over his chest.

Beside him was one of a much taller man with a well built physique. He gave a hearty laugh at the boy's comment. "At least it got the job done, didn't it?" The smell of cigarette filled the room.

"Shikamaru! Asuma-sensei!" Sakura cried out. A lovely smile for a lovely face. The two looked at her and grinned.

"We're late. Asuma-sensei had to find his cancer sticks before we left."

"Cancer sticks?! I'll have you know that cigarettes are the only bliss life can give you, nirvana!!"

Sakura chuckled at their antics.

All looked up when they heard the rushed footsteps from the floor above them. Sakura stood out of the way as Asuma stepped towards the metal bars. In one of his hands was a familiar blade. With a few arm motions, he had sliced the metal bars jut like a samurai would bamboo with his sword.

"Whoa!! Cool!" Naruto exclaimed, his eyes shining in admiration. "Teach me how to do that!! Teach me! Teach mmmeeeeee!!!" Naruto continued to whine while clinging to the man's leg. Truly, subtlety is a gift lost on Naruto.

"H—hey, get off me!" the man was abashed.

It took both Sakura and Sasuke too get Naruto off the poor man.

"Nooooo!!"

"Don't be an idiot Naruto! Stand up already. Someone's coming." Sakura hissed.

"Don't worry. I'll take care of this." Said Asuma. Before the men even got down he had met them upstairs. The sound of falling bodies and metal clashing against metal rebounded from above. Then it stopped.

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A few more Nyx operatives in long, white coats came after. With trained efficiency they wheeled the injured party, the unfortunate lackeys, to the waiting armored vehicles disguised as ambulances atop gurneys. Mums the word, the phrase all agents lived by.

At one side the hero of the day, Asuma, sat on the ground while being tended to by Sakura. He had sprained his left arm. Shikamaru was beside them, looking down at the two.

"Stupid. You shouldn't have gone all out. And you!" he looked at Shikamaru fiercely which made the boy flinch. "You could have brought more than this old man."

Asuma pouted. "Sakura-chan," drawing out her name, "I'm not that old" Sakura looked straight at him with a dead pan expression then pressed one finger on his sprained arm. "OW!"

Naruto and Ino snickered beside Sasuke, looking as composed as always. They were standing beside the same tree where Kane was sitting just moments ago.

Sasuke looked up; his view of the sky was enhanced by the leaves obstructing the purple sky. He had to guess it was about five now. Already in the distance was the first star of the night.

"There, all better now."

"Thank-you Sakura-san."

He made to left but put a hand on Shikamaru's shoulder before he went away. "Make amends boy. You're smart enough to avoid regrets."

Shikamaru's eyes widened and gulped at this.

A few moments passed. The five teenagers were now under the maple tree, the wind rushing past them, giving them refreshing cool while weaving through their hair.

"Look— I, I'm so—sorry for— Ah damn it!"

Shikamaru looked up when she heard Sakura laughing. This was the first time he had actually heard her laugh, other than the times from when they were children. He missed the sound. It all sounded foreign to him. He glanced at the three with them; Ino, Naruto, and Sasuke. None of the, seemed phased about it, not something they rarely heard.

"Don't worry about it Shika… I— we forgive you."

Naruto looked confused though. "Neh, Sakura-chan, what did he do?" Ino looked as well, curious as to the answer. Sakura told them about their assumptions about how the chip fell in Akihabara with Sasuke giving supporting claims.

"Speaking of which, Kane was holding on to this before they led him on to Nyx." Sakura handed Sasuke the golden Buddha. He regarded it with disgust for a second then took it with a sigh. What was he supposed to do with it? Ino looked like she knew.

"Sakura-chan, who was that cool dude but not cool enough to best me? 'Cause he did this cool…er…stuff that I wanted to learn." To Naruto's world, he was always best.

"That…was Asuma-san. He was Shikamaru's instructor before. I don't really know anything about the man except that he knows how to blow smoke into different shapes and animals." They chuckled at that. "Anyway, he's very much a mystery to me because I seldom see him. Shikamaru, you tell them."

The boy coughed and rubbed his head chock-full of brown hair. "The old man is the leading instructor in hand-to-hand combat with weapons. Taught every agent in the regiment, the young ones of course…"

Naruto laughed rudely after. "Well it doesn't seem that he did a good job with you! You look like a weak little boy!"

Sakura interrupted the boy's merriment at her friend's account. "Just so you know, Shikamaru's talent came in a different department. I'll have you know that he is the second-in-command in the Intel Gathering department and assistant to the head of the Tactical division!"

Her friends' reactions were near comical. Ino had dropped down in the ground in shock. Naruto had his mouth hanging a couple of inches lower than normal, and Sasuke… well, he was Sasuke. Nothing surprised him, or was there that slight green that crossed his eyes moments before he turned around.

"Shut up Sakura…" the smallest pink tinted Shikamaru's cheek's at Sakura's praises. He caught the young Uchiha's eyes, a brief apology and forgiveness transpired between them that only Sakura caught. He burrowed a hair atop Shikamaru's hair and ruffled it. "That's my good boy."

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"Everything as planned?" a voice hissed in the form of a question inside a darkened room. Of course it had gone according to plan. It was HIS plan after all.

"Of course Master. The Kane Prestige was defrauded before night fully accomplished its accent. Just like a candle blown out by the wind."

"Good… Buy it for me."

"At once sire."

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Okay… I'm in a real foul mood right now. I'm venting, so, just bear with me. I just learned that a certain someone has been looking through my files in the computer and he let me know that he thought that the things inside were just horrible and bad, as in bad influence bad. He sucks. Person happens to be my father.

I sit there and do nothing of course, snuffing someone out is still unfortunately a federal crime. Inside I want to say, 'Well fuck off then! If you think its detrimental then you shouldn't have snooped through my files. That is invasion of privacy and is punishable by law!'

The guy thinks he knows everything but doesn't.

So make me happy and review please… Maybe by then I'll be happy enough to do anything. I did write two chapters for y'all...


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